A Town in Twilight
by blankdreamer-13
Summary: In Twilight Town, there was a group of four. The ordinary and not-so-ordinary everyday events of their lives testified to their strong and unwavering friendship. Not to mention they were always an amusing bunch.
1. Am I Getting Fat?

A/N: Since I've suddenly had a number of sparks to write Twilight Town friendship fics, I've decided to change the first (since it can also work like an intro chapter) into a multiple chapter fic and just dump all of them there. It'll be easier on me, and since I make a few references every now and then, it'll be better for the reader too. Plus, like this, I can build up more on the characters and even write a few arcs if something comes to mind. But since this fic is mostly just a bunch of shorts with no collective story, don't expect quick updates. Thanks for reading!

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Am I Getting Fat?

Olette walked along the sidewalk of Twilight Town's Market Street, humming softly to herself. She was trying to distract her thoughts from recent events, especially those that concerned her mother.

It happened every now and then. Probably once every week, her mother would suddenly say something along the lines of: "Why don't you visit the neighbor's daughter?" or "I hear a few girls from your class are going shopping tomorrow. Go and join them why don't you?" and every now and then, the direct: "Why do you hang out with boys?"

Olette pushed the wire gate open, stepping into the Usual Spot. Over on the sofa was Pence, fiddling with his trusty camera. Next to him was Roxas, who was busy repairing his skateboard (he shouldn't have taken Hayner's dare to skate on _top_ of the tram) while he talked animatedly with Hayner, who was throwing darts at a picture of Seifer that was taped to the dartboard (why did he have that photo in the first place?).

As she sat down next to Pence, her thoughts wandered back. She understood her mother's concerns, but she was just fine. Besides, the girl next door was the definition of _blonde_, and there were certain perks to having guy friends. Like right now.

"Am I getting fat?"

The effect was quite astounding. All activity in the room ceased, as three pairs of eyes locked on to her. Hayner didn't even cheer when he got Seifer right in the ***. Olette fought the urge to laugh. Even though they constantly hung out with her, they had no idea how to handle situations that were sensitive to girls. It was why teasing them like this was so much fun. She managed to restrain herself to a small smile as she looked the boys trying to figure out the right response. The way they knew girl situations, they would think that answering yes could mean an outburst of tears, and to say no would mean an afternoon of 'are you sure?'.

"Well?" she asked, getting up and pacing to the center of the room. "Pence?"

Pence. The first one her mother had approved of. Obviously, the reason was his spotless record. Well, almost spotless. He had gotten detention once, the day he bought his camera, for not letting it go during a lab experiment. He was the above average boy, not the type you would put on a pedestal, but a step above the norm in terms of brains. Her mother had allowed their friendship hoping it would help with her studies. Turned out that she was the more studious one, while he kept going on about photography and computers.

Pence shifted uncomfortably. "Well, just check your weight or something. That should tell you."

Olette smiled. It was such a textbook answer, just like him. That's the way he was smart. If he was given a book report, he'd go over said book once, and know all the needed details.

"Roxas?" she asked, turning to the blonde skater.

Roxas. The second one her mother had approved of. At first, she had practically forbidden any form of contact between the two. His skater boy appearance (which was who he really was) had rattled the woman's nerves a bit. But when she had actually gotten one conversation in with the boy, she was quite impressed at how polite he was, as well as his manners. Even Olette was surprised. But when she confronted him later, he just smirked and said, "With a mom like yours, it's just a matter of what to say and how to say it."

Yes, Roxas was smart in his own way as well. He would always be the one to inject reason into a situation. Olette had actually seen an upperclassman ask him for tips about a class in Logic. If he was given a book report, he would only read one in every ten pages and still manage to piece the story together.

Olette watched his face. From the small upward turn at the corner of his mouth, he had already figured out that she was just messing with them. Well, it was fun watching him struggle for a bit anyway. He turned his attention back to the skateboard on his lap.

"I dunno, if your clothes don't feel any tighter or anything, then nothing's changed," he said, playing along.

"Hayner?"

Hayner. Technically, her mother still hadn't approved of him yet. She had once said that the boy was 'still under observation'. The only reason she allowed Olette to hang out with him was because Roxas was his best friend, thinking that the skater would keep him in line. Unfortunately, it was the other way around, with Hayner pushing Roxas over the line every now and then (hence the busted skateboard).

Hayner was a different kind of smart, besides being a smart-aleck and having a smart mouth. He was smart in an inventive way, thinking of their group's little schemes. It's why he was the (unofficially appointed) leader. If he was given a book report, he wouldn't read it at all, guessing the story from the title alone, throwing caution to the wind, whether it worked or failed. Actually, he _was_ given a book report and he _did_ write it only knowing the title. He got an F, along with several reprimanding comments from various teachers and surprisingly one nice comment from the composition teacher, saying he should write more often, though not for book reports.

"Well, Hayner?" Olette pressed.

He looked at her with a serious face. "You want a straight answer?"

She was a little taken aback but nodded. Hayner suddenly stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her and embracing her slender waist. She stood there, frozen with surprise, not knowing how to react. Finally, as fast as it happened, Hayner stepped back.

"Nah, it doesn't feel like you put on any weight."

"Huh?"

"I said: It doesn't feel like you put on any weight." His expression was perfectly neutral.

"Oh, r-right," she agreed, her mind still frazzled. So he had hugged her to feel whether or not she had gotten fatter. She guessed it was effective, but it really threw her head for a whirl. "Er... I think I have an errand to run." Her head still spinning, she left the Usual Spot in a hurry.

Roxas couldn't hold it in any more. He laughed out as hard as he could. "She's gonna kill you when she figures it out," he said, when he quieted down. "Or worse, take you shopping."

"Wait, I don't get it," Pence said. "How would Hayner know by hugging her? It's not like they've hugged before, so he can't compare. Or have you?" he asked, looking at Hayner.

"Of course not!" Hayner's once passive face was starting to turn red.

"Yeah, I thought so," Roxas answered, smirking. "Either way, he just wanted an excuse to hug her."

"That's not it!" Hayner objected. The red in his face betrayed his expression. "I just wanted to tease her is all."

"Whatever you say," Roxas said, turning back to his skateboard.

"But Roxas is right you know," Pence said, a smile creeping on to his face. "Olette will figure it out eventually, and you're gonna get it."

That was who Olette was to them. Their friend who would keep them in line, out of trouble, and occasionally administering punishments herself. Without her, who knows what kind of trouble the three would have gotten into. It was how their gang operated. Hayner thinks of something, Roxas and Pence figure out how to make it happen, and Olette talks them out of it just in the nick of time. She allowed mischief once in a while, but she always looked out for them. They all looked out for each other in their own way.

"Oh well. She's probably gonna drag us along to go shopping," Hayner said, smirking.

"What do you mean us?" Roxas asked. "You're the manipulative one."

"Come on!" Hayner begged. "You know I won't last long alone! Besides, she really enjoys shopping with all of us."

"Alright, alright."

"Fine."

Each of them resumed their own activities, a momentary silence settling between them.

"So..." Hayner began. "Do you think she really put on weight?"

"Yep."

"Definitely."

Hayner nodded. "Yeah, I thought so too."

* * *

A/N: I've always wanted to do a Twilight Town friendship fic, but I've never had any half-decent ideas. And I thought that while I'm at it, just throw in a touch of HaynerxOlette.

My dad once gave me advice on how to answer when girls asked this (in a situation where they really have gotten fat): Lie like your life depended on it. Still, only one girl so far has asked me that question, and I honestly answered no, though everyone said it was because I spend so much time with her that I don't notice the change. That's how I thought of hugging as a way to answer such a question. And yes, I thought it was a pretty good excuse to get away with hugging her without it getting too much attention. I figured Hayner would be the type to think the same. Anyway, review plz!


	2. Lunch Hunting

A/N: Made in an attempt to figure out how funny I really am. Well, I'll let you guys be the judge.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the characters

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**Lunch Hunting**

It was a wonderful day in Twilight Town. Actually, since it always looked like it was a wonderful day in their town unless it was night or raining heavily, maybe it didn't really count. Still, Hayner, Pence, and Roxas enjoyed the atmosphere unique to their town as the walked along the streets of the residential district.

"Ahh, it's such a nice morning," Hayner said, stretching out his arms.

"Hayner, it's already afternoon," Pence said.

"He hasn't eaten lunch yet, that's why," Roxas explained, holding back a laugh. "He thinks his stomach is better in telling time than the huge clocktower you can see almost anywhere."

"Okay, whatever. Speaking of which, how come we haven't gone to eat yet? I'm hungry."

"Yeah, me too," Pence agreed.

Roxas sighed. The two were hopeless when they were hungry. Well, it was actually Pence who was hopeless when he's hungry. Hayner's like that either way. "We're looking for Olette remember? She never showed up at the Usual Spot, when she specifically asked for us to come. Anyway, it's a Saturday, and we always eat out together on Saturdays."

"C'mon, for all we know, she's going on a diet to try and lose the weight she gained over the break," Hayner said. "I vote we let her starve herself and we go out and stuff ourselves like the men we are!"

"Seconded!" Pence yelled.

"We can't," Roxas said, shooting their idea down. "We don't have any munny. We were planning to get down on our knees and beg Olette to treat us this one time. We talked about who would say which pathetic line and in what order. We even came close to rehearsing the other day but Fuu wouldn't let us practice on her."

"Oh..."

"Right..."

"I vote we follow through with the original plan and beg!" Hayner yelled.

"Seconded!"

Roxas sighed and subtly tried to put as much distance between himself and the two. For now, those two were complete strangers who just happened to be going the same direction as him.

-x-

The trio were now standing in front of the ominous obstacle that was Olette's front door. Of course, Hayner, oblivious to how ominous it really was, just jumped up the front steps and rang the doorbell without hesitation, not noticing Roxas and Pence duck for cover. Hayner's luck being as it is, it was Olette's mom who opened the door.

"Hey! How're you doing Mrs.--"

BAM!

The door was slammed right into his face. It was good that the boy had at least been able lean back or else his nose would have been crushed. Coming out of hiding, Roxas and Pence rejoined the startled Hayner. He still couldn't get it in his head that Olette's mother viewed him as a hostile threat.

After waiting a while, the door opened a crack and a part of Olette's figure could be seen.

"How many times do I have to tell you, never let Hayner be the first thing my mom sees!"

"There were special circumstances," Roxas smiled.

"We were betting whether or not he would finish saying hi," Pence explained.

"Anyway," Hayner interjected. "Are you gonna come out with us or-- woah, what happened to you?"

Olette had opened the door all the way now and the boys could now see that she was covered with a dusty layer of black. She was wearing an apron that was covered with smudges. She really looked like was completely worn down.

"Um, messy art project?" Pence guessed.

"And what's that smell?" Hayner asked, following his nose and pushing past her.

Despite Olette's efforts to try and stop the boys from coming in, the gang found themselves in the kitchen. Or at least what was left of it. The carnage that was previously known to that household as the kitchen was overwhelming. They couldn't even move without stepping into something slippery, sticky, slimy, or any combination of the three.

And judging from Olette's flushed, embarrassed face, it was easy to see who was responsible.

Pence, the ever polite boy, tried to help Olette blow this over. "So, um, the... rats here have really gone wild huh?"

Roxas decided that silence was the best course of action.

Hayner, for once, decided to take it easy on Olette. "C'mon, Olette, you're too old to be playing mad scientist."

WHACK!

Unfortunately, Hayner chose the wrong kind of joke right when Olette was within arm's reach of the frying pan. Even worse, whatever was in that pan made direct contact with his face and his slightly open mouth. Hayner set a new household record for the fastest time from the kitchen to the toilet.

After Olette had calmed down and Hayner was no longer a sickly green color, the gang discussed the next course of action.

"Now what?" Pence asked. "Olette said she used her money for ingredients for what was supposed to be our lunch."

Hayner and Roxas shuddered. "You planned to use us as guinea pigs for that?"

Olette flushed red in both anger and embarrassment. "My mom said I needed to learn. Called it bridal training."

The boys shuddered, Hayner a bit more than the others. Roxas reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Hayner. She'll get better... maybe," he said solemnly. Hayner flushed red and smacked Roxas on the arm.

Olette eyed them suspiciously. "What are you--"

"Nevermind," Hayner said quickly. "The question now is what do we eat for lunch?"

"Well, you could still eat what I made," she suggested. A long look from the three boys defeated her. "Right..."

"I guess there's only one thing left," Pence said.

"I guess so," Olette agreed.

"Thanks for letting us eat over at your place, Roxas," Hayner said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Huh? Wha-?"

-x-

Desperately in need of food, the gang made its way over to Roxas' house. However, Hayner, Pence, and Olette practically dragging Roxas across the street meant that they made quite a spectacle of themselves.

"Um, I'm kinda having second thoughts about Olette's lunch," Roxas tried. "Maybe it wasn't so bad, you know?"

"Trust me, it's that bad," Hayner said.

"I thought it would have been," Olette agreed. Three curious stares were pointed at her. "What? I was too scared to taste it."

"Besides, your mom's a great cook, and she never minds whenever we come over to eat," Pence said, pulling Roxas along even more forcefully. Food was not a subject to be taken lightly with him.

"Yeah, I could ask for some tips for my cooking too."

"Oh yeah, I forgot! My mom said she'd be out the whole day."

"Doesn't matter," Hayner said. "There's _always_ food in your house, even if its just instant noodles. Even Olette can handle that."

"Hey!"

Hayner ignored her reaction and continued, "Bottom line is we're hungry, and we'll eat anything. Anything edible," he added, seeing Olette's look.

The gang finally made it to Roxas' house. Knowing that they were fully welcome in the household, all of them simply barged in through the door. For the second time that day, they were greeted by an odor which was a mixture of something burning, rotting, and just plain foul.

"Oh, no. Not again," Roxas moaned. He went ahead of the others and into the kitchen "Mom? You in here?"

"Hey, honey." Roxas' mother was a kind and gentle-looking middle-aged woman. And right now, she was slumped in the middle of another disastrous kitchen. "Um... sorry, honey..."

The others had finally caught up with Roxas and were now staring at the mess in the kitchen.

"Woah, it looks like a tornado came through," Hayner commented.

"Yeah, it's even worse than mine."

"Actually, yours looked like it was hit by something nuclear, so this isn't so bad."

"I think there are times when tornados are more destructive than nuclear power, Hayner." Olette said defensively.

"Um, guys? You're getting off track. What happened anyway?" Pence asked.

Roxas had crouched next to her mother. "Mom, I told you it's fine. You don't have to force yourself."

"I-I couldn't help it," she whimpered. "I ate lunch like I always do, but after that, I couldn't help but try to do something for dinner. After all, I couldn't keep letting you and your father do the cooking..."

"Waitwaitwait..." Hayner interrupted. "Are you saying that _Roxas_ knows how to _cook_?"

Roxas' mother nodded. "During the times you kids came over to eat, he always did the cooking."

"So, the pork cutlet, the beef stew, the curry, the homemade pizza... I can't believe it," Pence said, still somewhat disbelieving. "Come to think of it, Roxas was always home before we came over those times, and we never saw her mom actually cook, did we, Olette? ...Olette?"

Olette was at Roxas' feet, on her knees and bowing down. "Please supervise my bridal training!!"

"GAHAHAHA! This is great!!" Hayner laughed. "Roxas and bridal training! This'll definitely give you bonus points with that Naminé girl!"

Roxas' face was now glowing a bright red. This was mostly the reason he never told them of his 'domesticated' side. "Would you guys get a grip! Alright, out! Now!"

After being ushered out of the house by Roxas, leaving the cleaning to his mother, the gang finally calmed down enough to assess their situation.

"My mom said that she ate the instant stuff for lunch, and used up everything else, so there's nothing to eat here," Roxas said.

"I guess that means we're skipping lunch," Olette said, sighing. "I needed to diet anyway."

"No! I refuse to give in to these unfortunate turn of events!" Pence yelled.

"I'm with Pence!" Hayner shouted. "We still have our emergency contigency plan!"

"Oh no..."

"Not that again..."

-x-

"I wouldn't mind dying of starvation now," Roxas mumbled.

"This is _so _not worth it," Olette agreed.

"Of course it is!" Pence argued. "We should have done this in the first place."

"Pipe down and keep with the plan," Hayner snapped. "On three. One... two... three!"

"PLEASE PUT IT ON OUR TAB!"

All activity in the local eatery ceased as they stared at a gang of four children, bowing down on their hands and knees. The manager sighed, pulled out a long list that kept the record of their debt and started adding the usual amount. He didn't really mind, but he wished they didn't make a spectacle of themselves every time this happened.

"Olette."

"Yeah, Roxas?"

"Next time, we're tying these two down. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

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A/N: To be honest, this is kinda embarrassing. I really wanted to break my silence in fic writing, and I really wanted to do another Twilight Town gang friendship, but whenever I look over it, it kinda pales, especially when compared to the other great friendship fics there are of these guys. Still, it felt good to write again. And I guess this counts as practice.

Anyway, review please!


	3. Rainy Day

**Rainy Day**

"I'm gonna die..."

"Stop being so dramatic, Hayner," Olette reprimanded. "And stick your head back in here."

It was actually raining in Twilight Town, and it was raining hard. The usually bright orange sky was now covered by a mass of gray clouds that allowed nothing but the flashes of lightning and downpour of rain to come through. Even though it was still the middle of the afternoon, it was actually dark enough to be night.

And because of said rain, the gang was now stranded in Hayner's room with absolutely nothing to do other than to die of boredom. Though it looked like Hayner, ever defiant, would rather die of pneumonia judging from the way he was sticking his head out in the rain.

"Seriously, I can feel it," Hayner insisted, his head already quite soaked. "I can feel the boredom about to shut off the power to my brain."

"Wait, you're telling me it was on this whole time?" Roxas mocked from his sprawled position on Hayner's messy bed.

"That's a bit much Roxas," Pence disagreed. "I would think Hayner's brain works at least an hour each day."

"Easy. Play nice, boys." Olette was smiling though. Thunder roared from outside and all of them gave a slight jump. "That's some storm though. We're not going anywhere for a while."

"Ugh, to be stuck in Hayner's room of all places," Roxas groaned.

"Better than the Usual Spot I guess," Pence reasoned. "If it isn't flooded by now, it's definitely leaking all over the place."

"I'd take wet over bored any day." Roxas sat up and glanced out the window. "I wonder if we can run to my place. At least there's something to do there."

"We can't go there," Pence reminded him. "Your mom's still experimenting with food, and she always makes us her test subjects."

"The same reason we can't go to Olette's place," Hayner added.

"Hey! I'm getting better! Right, Roxas?"

"Erm, uh... what about your place?" Roxas asked looking over at Pence, changing the subject not too subtly.

"Are you kidding?" He looked at him as if he had suggested the craziest thing ever. "I'm not gonna let you and Hayner anywhere near my room! One minute inside and you'd break every sensitive piece of camera and computer equipment I have."

"It would be more fun than dying of boredom," Hayner reasoned.

"Not for me it wouldn't. Besides, it's on the other side of town, so we can't go even if you wanted to."

A moment of silence passed between them, disrupted only by the sound of the falling rain.

"Why don't we--"

"We're not going to do homework, Olette," Hayner said, leaning further out the window. "I'm praying for lightning to blow our school to pieces before tomorrow."

"Hayner."

"Fine, just Seifer then." Roxas nodded in assent. He could see the headlines now: Disciplinary Committee leader's big head attracted lightning bolt.

"Okay, fine, were not doing homework," Olette said, giving up. She looked around Hayner's room. Or did it even qualify as room, considering the mess scattered about? "But can we at least do something about this mess?"

"What mess?" Hayner asked.

"The mess that prevents me from seeing the floor," Olette answered. "I've been stepping on dirty clothes this whole time and I'm not gonna put up with it anymore."

"You call it mess, I call it decoration."

"And you have such wonderful taste," Roxas said, holding up a pair of striped boxers.

"Hey, that's my lucky underwear!" Hayner yelled. "I was wearing that when I beat Seifer in the Struggle last month."

Roxas suddenly dropped the piece of clothing. "Please tell me you've washed them since then."

Hayner gave him a sarcastic look. "What do you think?"

Roxas put a hand to his chin, thinking a moment. "That pretty much convinced me. I'll help, Olette."

"Better than nothing I suppose," Pence agreed, getting up.

"Do what you want," Hayner yawned.

Olette went over to a particularly messy pile next to Hayner's bed and started to sort through it, neatly setting apart the dirty clothes, music cds, school books and other stuff. She had finally managed to clear some space up, enough to notice something sticking out from between the bed and the wall it was against.

"Hm, what's this?" She tugged at it, freeing it from the crack. Her face immediately turned red from what she saw.

"Hayner! W-w-what's the meaning of this?!" Said boy pulled his head out of the window and turned around to find Olette holding a magazine which cover featured something only boys of a mature age are allowed to see.

A look of panic flashed across his face. Then, as quick as the expression appeared on his face, it disappeared as he regained composure. He turned to Roxas. "Oh yeah, you left that here the last time you came over."

"W-Wha--!" Roxas was about to say more when Hayner threw a look at him. He faltered, all the words jamming in his throat. An epic and legendary internal war was waged inside him, lasting an entire five seconds. It was Hayner's image or his.

Roxas stopped himself from saying anything more, gritted his teeth, and took the magazine from Olette. "...yeah... forgot..."

_Hayner owes me bigtime for this_, he thought. Still, he supposed it was quite something that Hayner tried his best to keep a somewhat clean image in front of Olette.

"O-oh... so that was Roxas'..." Olette suddenly perked up, regaining momentum. "Roxas! I never expected that of you! Maybe if it were Hayner--"

"Hey!"

"--but not you! That thing is just... just..." Olette fumbled for a word obscene enough to describe what she was feeling but had to settle for awkward hand guestures.

"This goes for the two of you as well!"she said, rounding on Pence and Hayner. Everyone was now staring at Olette. When she got fired up, she really got fired up, dragging all of them into the mess. Like that time she had dragged them to the forest to pick up trash for the whole day. "I mean, I know you're guys and that you're at that age but you should know better!"

Hayner groaned. This wasn't good. She was about to start ranting again. He had to find something to distract her, or they would spend the whole rainy day listening to her go on and on and on. Or maybe... he could turn this against her.

"Is that really fair Olette?"

The girl gave Hayner a look. "What do you mean by that?"

"Is it really fair to simply pass judgement like that? That you just decide a certain thing is wrong? I mean, you haven't even looked through it, have you?"

"W-Why should I have to look at it?! It's common opinion that--"

"So you're saying we should blindly follow common ideas and conventions?" Hayner asked, trying his best to hide his smirk. It was a good thing he listened every now and then to Olette's rants. He could even mimick them now. "Don't you think it's up to a person to decide what's good or bad, using his experience as a guide? Then after that, deliberate with others to reach a consensus?"

"Never thought Hayner knew such big words," Roxas whispered to Pence.

"He doesn't. Pretty sure he's just using them randomly. It's amazing he's lucky enough to use them correctly though."

"FINE!" Olette thundered. She snatched the magazine back from Roxas and opened it to the first page. "I'll show you. Even after I read this, I'll still think it's something you boys shouldn't go near!"

From the way her face was beet red, you wouldn't think she was reading the table of contents. Though it probably had something to do with the abundant pictures scattered about the page.

Roxas and Pence both had worried expressions on their faces. Things never turned out that well whenever Hayner and Olette clashed. She was only starting on the second page and it looked like she was growing faint with all the blood rushing to her face.

It was during times like these that some intervention was needed. Pence glanced at Roxas, and he nodded.

"Say cheese!"

Light flashed from the camera in Pence's hands, perfectly capturing the scene of Olette reading the explicit magazine.

"W-w-what are doing?! Pence!"

"Roxas!"

"I'm open!"

From Pence's hands, the camera was tossed to Roxas, who then ran out of the room. Olette was only seconds behind him.

"Roxas! Get back here! Delete that picture now or I'm breaking that camera!"

"Hey, wait up! Olette, you're gonna mess up that magazine if you bring out in the rain!"

"Don't let the camera get too wet, Roxas! And don't let Olette break it!"

Hayner's front door swung open and four teenagers bolted out into the wet outdoors, one chasing the other. Roxas in the lead, holding the incriminating camera. Followed by Olette, brandishing the rolled up magazine as a weapon. Hayner and Pence bringing up the rear, telling them to be careful with their stuff. They ran across town as if the rain didn't exist, their yells as loud as the thunder that kept the people indoors.

Soon enough, they were out of breath, soaked to the bone, and laughing their hearts out. Somewhere along the line, it had changed from a chase, to a race, to simply splashing around in the rain.

After running around almost the whole of Twilight Town, they finally stopped at the station clocktower. They all collapsed in a heap of tangled limbs as soon as they got to the top. After running a marathon like that in the rain, all of them were exhausted.

"Ugh, Pence, get off," Roxas groaned. "I can't feel my legs."

"Can't. Olette's sitting on me..."

"I'm not that heavy!"

"Hey guys, look." Hayner had managed to disentangle himself from the others and was now gazing out into the scenery before him. "The rain's stopping."

From the top of the station clocktower, they had the perfect view of Twilight Town. The rain was now reduced to a light drizzle as a few rays of sunlight managed to break through the grey overcast sky. It shone down like numerous spotlights, lighting the areas of Twilight Town with its familiar orange glow, as if the heavens were opening its gates to the earth.

Pence grabbed his camera from Roxas and after a quick check to see that everything was still working, he took a quick picture. He turned and smiled at the others.

"Pretty good ending for a boring rainy day, huh?"

"Definitely."

"Thats for sure."

"Yeah." Olette held a hand out to Pence. "It will be as soon as I delete that picture of me."

The boys couldn't help but laugh and sigh at the same time. Just when they thought they could get away with it...

* * *

A/N: Took awhile to get this down right. I actually had to write a number of versions because the story wouldn't flow for me like it usually does. Still, I liked how it turned out.

Just to announce it again, I've decided to dump all my Twilight Town gang friendship stories here. Makes it easier to keep a track of (not to mention it'll be easier to get reviews). No story in mind really, just a bunch of slices from their everyday lives, though I might write a few arcs sometime. And since there's no real story in mind, please note that it probably won't be updated consistently.

Review plz!


	4. Wake Up Call

**Wake Up Call**

It was a bright and early morning in Twilight Town. The air was building up the familiar energetic atmosphere as the townsfolk were already busy with morning rituals. The moms were cooking breakfast. The dads were dressing up for work. The kids were getting ready for school.

While all this was going on, out at the sandlot, sitting on one of the benches, there was already someone out and ready to start their day. All that person needed were the right companions to start it right.

"Olette!"

She turned and smiled, immediately recognizing the slightly chubby figure and the striped headband. She had figured that Pence would be the first one to come.

The boy ran over to where she was sitting. "You're always so early, Olette." He took a look around noticing the quiet surroundings. "Not here yet, huh?"

Olette had to laugh. "Of course not! Did you really think that he'd be here already?"

"Hey! I resent that!" Hayner walked out from behind the corner leading to the back alley and joined his friends. He noticed that the two were giving him strange looks. "What?"

"Hayner... you're on time." Pence checked the clocktower. "No, wait, you're _early_!"

Olette put a hand to Hayner's forehead. "You're not sick are you?"

Hayner backed away immediately, a light pink coloring his cheeks. "Would you guys stop it! I just wanted to be early for once is all."

"This early? Only Olette comes this... oh..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Olette asked.

Pence just smiled, despite a warning glare from Hayner. "It's nothing. Just thinking that I might be late next time."

"Anyway!" Hayner interrupted. "We're all here, right?"

"Yep," Pence answered. "We're earlier than usual, but it's almost time for school."

"We better go then," Olette said.

"Right." Hayner turned, leading the way. "Let's go wake up that sleepy head."

-x-

The trio had had moved from the sandlot and were now standing on the front steps of Roxas' house. Hayner was about to barge in unannounced like he usually did when Olette pulled him back by the collar.

"Hayner, it's seven thirty in the morning."

"Yeah, it is."

"You can't just welcome yourself in like that!"

"Well, it is Roxas' house," Pence reasoned.

"I don't care whose house it is!" Olette said. "It's completely rude! Especially at this time in the morning!"

"Good morning kids."

They turned to find that the front door was already open, Roxas' mother standing there. "Try not to make too much noise. A few of our neighbors are late sleepers. Including one teenage boy in this household."

Olette chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that," she apologized.

The woman smiled. "It's fine. I should be apologizing to you, always bothering you like this to wake up my son."

"So he's still sleeping?" Pence asked.

"Wrong question, Pence," Hayner said. "It should be: How many times has his alarm gone off?"

The elder woman chuckled. "Only twice so far."

Hayner crossed his arms. "Not good. It means he's too sleepy to shut off the alarm too many times."

"You know, it could also mean that he got up at the second time," Olette suggested.

Everyone gave her a good long stare. "Not possible," they said in unison.

"Anyway, let's go wake him up." Hayner stepped past Roxas' mother and into the house, quickly followed by Pence.

"Hayner! Pence! Where are your manners?!" Olette turned to the older woman. "Um, sorry for the intrusion."

She just waved Olette on, motioning for her to go on ahead. Olette followed the boys up the stairs and into Roxas' room. Just like they had predicted, he was still sleeping, sprawled all over the bed covers. One of his feet was propped up against the window, while his other foot was using the pillow instead of his head. His head on the other hand, was hanging off the side of the bed.

Pence held back a laugh and took a picture. "I always look forward to this."

"How many pictures do you have of Roxas sleeping?" Olette asked.

"Around thirty. And all of them are different postures."

Hayner approached Roxas and prodded him with a finger. The sleeping boy didn't even fidget. "No reaction, as usual. So how are we going to do it this time?"

"Last time, we poured a bucket of water on him," Pence suggested.

"We can't do that," Hayner said.

Olette nodded in approval, glad to see that Hayner was learning to be more sensitive to others. "That's right. Roxas' bed would get wet--"

"--and I didn't bring a bucket today," Hayner finished. "Besides, if we wake him up the same way too many times, he gets used to it."

Pence sighed. "Whatever we're going to try, we better try it right away."

"Yeah, it's almost time for school," Olette said.

"Well, that too. But if we wait too long, Hayner's gonna get bored and start drawing on Roxas' face."

"Relax," Hayner assured. He crouched down to Roxas' face and pulled out a marker. "It's not a permanent one this time."

Olette impatiently snatched the marker from Hayner's hands. "Try to concentrate would you? We're trying to wake him up, not have fun."

"Okay, okay. Well, here goes something." Hayner reached forward and clamped down Roxas' nose and mouth. "Let's see how this works out."

A minute passed in silence and absolutely nothing happened. Roxas wasn't fidgeting or showing any signs of discomfort at all. Actually, he wasn't showing any signs of... anything.

"Um... Hayner?" There was a tiny hint of nervousness in Olete's voice. "You haven't... killed him, have you?"

"O-of course not!" Hayner laughed awkwardly.

"Maybe you should let go, just in case," Pence suggested.

"I'm sure it's fine. Any second now, he's gonna--"

Hayner was cut off as soon as Roxas' fist made contact with his jaw. Hayner flew across the room, out the door, and down the stairs. Pence and Olette winced at every bump and crash.

Pence gave a low whistle. "Wow. Nice punch."

"And look. He's still sleeping," Olette noted.

As Pence and Olette admired Roxas' built-in self-defense mechanism, loud steps coming from the staircase announced Hayner's rearrival. He stepped through the door, and from the look on his face, he was pretty much pissed.

"That's it. I'm waking him up even if it kills him."

Olette decided not to point out the contradiction in his statement and stepped between him and the sleeping Roxas. "Easy, Hayner. It was an accident. Just a reflex."

"And considering it's you and Roxas, he'd beat you easy, even if he is sleeping."

Pence found himself at the receiving end of two glares.

"You're not helping, Pence," Olette said.

"Definitely."

Pence shrugged. "I'm just saying..."

Olette pulled her cellphone and checked the time on the screen. "We have to hurry. We're going to be late."

"That's it!" Hayner grabbed Olette's cellphone and began browsing through the contacts list.

"Hayner! What are you doing?! You better not be looking through my inbox!"

"Relax, I'm just checking if you have that person's number."

"Whose number?" Pence asked.

Hayner smirked, finding the right number. "You'll see."

He put the phone on loudspeaker and pressed the dial button. He then crouched down to Roxas' head and prodded him a bit.

"Hey Roxas, phone for you."

Roxas groaned, finally reacting to the living world. "Mm... go away..."

"_Um... sorry?_"

Roxas eyes snapped open at the sound of the voice at the other end of the line. It couldn't be...

"Naminé?"

"_Yes. Um... this is Olette's phone, isn't it? Can I ask who this is?_"

Unable to think straight with lethargy still clouding his mind, he actually answered, "I-It's Roxas."

"_Oh! Hey Roxas! Did you need something?_"

"O-oh... not really... I-I was just... um, did you say this was Olette's phone?"

"_Of course it is, silly! You're the one using it!_"

"R-right." Roxas was finally starting to wake up and get a clear grasp of things. "Um, I was just browsing through Olette's contacts for familiar names and accidentally called yours. Sorry about that."

"_No problem. Well, see you later at school._"

A low tone signaled the end of the call. Roxas breathed a sigh of relief. What the heck had happened?

He heard sniggering. Roxas looked up to see three teens doubled over, trying to hold their laughter in. He should have known...

Three seconds later, Roxas was up, Olette was still holding in her giggles, and Hayner and Pence were rubbing the forming bruises on the top of their heads.

"Oww... that's gonna leave a mark," Pence moaned.

"Not fair, Olette," Hayner complained. "It's fine for you since Roxas doesn't hit girls."

"Call it one of the perks of having guys for friends."

Roxas, having vented most of his frustration of the other boys' heads, sat back down on his bed and glared at the others.

"_Never_ wake me up like that again."

Hayner smirked and handed Olette's phone back to her. "Still, you have to admit, that got you up pretty quick."

Pence nodded. "Yeah. Usually, even though we manage to get you up, you still manage to nod off a few times. I even bet this would wake you up just as fast no matter how many times we did it."

Roxas sighed and turned to the more responsible one in the room. "I can't believe you let Hayner do that."

Olette shrugged. "I didn't know what he was doing. But it really did work, and even I thought it was a bit funny. It might be even a little sweet."

Roxas and Hayner shuddered at the thought of them being 'sweet' to each other. Olette rolled her eyes.

"I didn't mean Hayner and you. You know, like how some girlfriends call to wake up their sleepy boyfriends."

Roxas immediately turned into a shade of red. "W-what?! This is nothing like that! M-me and Naminé aren't..."

"Hot for each other," Hayner supplied.

"Yet," Pence added.

"I dunno, Roxas is so it's half true," Olette stated.

"Who's Roxas hot for?" Roxas' mother called from downstairs.

"Mom!" Roxas rushed over to the door and slammed it shut. "There, you've embarrassed me enough for my next three lives. Can we just get going already?"

"Okay."

"Fine."

"Whatever you say, loverboy."

Roxas reopened the door and stepped aside. "Just give me a few minutes to shower and change."

The others nodded and left the room descending the staircase.

"And Hayner?"

He turned back, hearing his name being called.

"I repeat, never do that again or I swear I'll kick your ass so hard you'll never sit down again."

Hayner smiled. "Sure."

-x-

_The Next Morning_

Olette and Pence were waiting for Hayner in the sandlot. He was running later than usual, meaning that they would probably have to run the entire way to even have a chance of making it to school on time.

"C'mon, Hayner. Where is he? We still have to wake up Roxas."

"Relax, Olette. It won't kill you to be late for one day in your life." Olette threw one of her looks at him. "Right, stupid thing to say."

"There he is!"

Hayner came out from the back alley, who was completely relaxed and unrushed in comparison to Olette. Though to be completely honest, anyone would appear to be completely relaxed and unrushed compared to how Olette was behaving at the moment.

"Where have you been?! Nevermind that, let's hurry over to Roxas' place!"

"Chill, Olette," he said. "Don't worry about that. Let's just head over to school."

"What are you talking about?! We cant just leave Roxas behind! If you're worried about how to wake him up, I've already prepared a list of methods that will last us about a month," she said, showing him a piece of paper.

Hayner promptly snatched the list from her hands and before she could even react, ripped the paper into two.

"Hayner!"

"If you'd just calm down, I'm trying to--"

"Calm down?! You just wasted paper!"

"...Oh... right..." He had forgotten that Olette was an environmentalist. He was definitely in for a lecture sometime soon.

"Anyway, Hayner," Pence interrupted. "You were saying?"

"Oh, I was just saying that we can head straight to school. Roxas should already be there."

It took a moment for what he said to sink in. After which the two gave him strange looks.

"Hayner, we are talking about the same Roxas, right?" Olette asked.

"Roxas getting to school ahead of time is just unreal... like some sci-fi thing," Pence said. "But you're completely serious??"

Hayner smiled. "Completely. You guys know a certain person who lives in Roxas' neighborhood, who goes to school early and would be nice enough to agree to a little detour every morning..."

It took two seconds for Pence and Olette to realize what he had done. They both smiled mischieviously.

"That's just evil," Pence said. "After how he warned us and all."

"You mean after he warned Hayner," Olette corrected. "What was it again? 'You'll never be able to sit down'?"

"Actually, that's changed. According to a text message he sent me, my children won't be able to sit down either, assuming I'll still have children after he's done with me."

Pence patted him on the arm. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'd still be happy to marry you."

"Huh? Who--"

"Nevermind that! Pence is just being stupid," Hayner said quickly. "Let's just go to school."

The trio walked in silence in the quiet morning streets of Twilight Town. As an act of courtesy, Hayner thought he should warn the others.

"By the way, since I told Roxas it was everyone's idea, I'm counting on you guys to share part of my punishment."

* * *

A/N: Pretty much forced myself to finish this stupid thing that's been sitting in my computer for over a month. Still, for something I forced out, I don't think it's too bad. Review please!


	5. Tradition

**Tradition**

"What's this supposed to be?"

"It's ice cream, Hayner," Olette said with a tone of exasperation.

"I know it's ice cream! I'm asking why this... _thing_ is here in place of our usual ice cream!"

They had done what they usually did. The gang of four drew lots to see who would be the ones to go out to buy ice cream. Pence and Olette were the ones this time, and as usual, the group had pooled their money for their sea-salt ice cream. But when the two came back, there was something different.

Hayner was staring at his chocolate ice cream cone with an unusual amount of suspicion and slight disgust. Then again, to look at an ice cream cone with suspicion and disgust, especially if it was an established flavor such as chocolate, was already unusual in itself. "What happened to the usual??"

"They were out, so we bought something else," Olette answered.

"You can't do that!"

Roxas gave his best friend a weird look. "Why not?"

"That's not what we do!"

"What do you mean by that?" Pence asked. He probably shouldn't have done that.

"Everyday, after school, we go to the Usual Spot and draw lots to see who goes out to buy sea-salt ice cream. Then, while we eat it, we're supposed to go to the station clocktower, throw our popsicle sticks in the trash bin on the right side of the entrance and then make our way up the tower!"

"Wow, didn't think we had such routine," Roxas said, simply taking his share of ice cream from Pence. He was about to give it a lick when Hayner slapped it out of his hands, letting it splatter all over the floor.

"Hey!"

"Don't eat that!" Hayner shouted. "It's... its... blasphemy! Yeah, that's what it is!"

Olette sighed. "Hayner, stop using words you're not sure of."

"I know what it means! It means that this is... wrong! Right?"

Pence gave a half-chuckle, half-sigh. "Considering it's Hayner, I suppose it's close enough."

"Just for the record, that was your ice cream you knocked to the floor," Roxas said, taking another cone from Olette.

"Would you guys focus?? I'm talking about a breach in our protocol!"

"Define protocol."

"...Okay, fine, I'll stop using those words, can we just get back to the topic?"

"Okay, so you were talking about a routine?" Olette asked.

"Yeah, and we're not following it!"

"I'm still having trouble with the idea... we had a routine??" Pence asked.

"I'm not really surprised," Roxas said, starting on his ice cream cone. "It's just like Hayner to suddenly come up with these kinds of things."

"I did not make it up! It's been our tradition ever since this gang was formed!" Hayner shouted indignantly. "And would you stop eating that ice cream?!"

"Hayner, don't vent it out on us just because you wasted yours," Olette said soothingly.

"I'm not-- are you guys even listening?! We've broken tradition!" He paused, then looked to Olette and added, "And I know what that means!"

"Okay, okay," Pence conceded. "So apparently we had some kind of unspoken tradition, which none of us except Hayner knew about."

"Exactly."

"So?"

It took a while for Hayner to register the question. And even then he still didn't understand it.

"So... what?"

"What Pence means is now that we've broken this unwritten tradition, do you even have any idea about what we're supposed to do about it?" Roxas said.

Despite it being spelled out for him, it still took him awhile to register what had been said. Then, his expression was just... confused. Apparently, he hadn't thought that far.

After a few seconds of awkward waiting, he suddenly shouted, "I know! Let's write it down! All the rules, traditions, and penalties of our gang!"

"Waitwaitwait." Roxas stood up from the box he was sitting on and gave Hayner a look that said 'you're being crazy... again'. "You're saying that you want to write down a law that governs our _friendship_?"

"Yeah."

This time it was Roxas who was at a loss for words. He had forgotten that it was a futile effort to try and point out to Hayner how crazy most of his ideas were.

Pence leaned over to Olette and whispered, "This must be one of the traditions: Hayner drags gang into antics no matter what."

-x-

After a lengthly discussion assigning who should sit where from that date forward, the gang was now immersed in their discussions. Or at least one of them was. Hayner was sitting in a perfectly business-like fashion, a notepad and pen in his hands, while the others were slouched where they sat, waiting for an opportunity to bolt.

They had just finished a few of the more basic rules, but the other three had already had enough.

"Oh, right! We need positions! I'm president, Roxas is vice, Olette is secretary, and Pence is everything else."

"What's up with that? Why am I everything else?" Pence asked.

"There are only four of us," Hayner said. "So the workload has to be distributed."

"You call that distributed? And why do we need to have positions anyway?"

"Because I'm president and because I say so."

Roxas rolled his eyes. Another one of Hayner's ridiculous ideas. Being his best friend, he often knew the best ways to get him to abandon a few of these.

"But then shouldn't Olette also be the first lad--"

"Okay! Okay! No positions! J-Just stop that!" Hayner shouted, his cheeks flushing a little.

Roxas and Pence grinned at each other, while Olette gave the boys a confused look. She still couldn't take a hint. Hayner cleared his throat, regaining composure.

"Okay, moving on to our morning traditions. Me, Pence, and Olette meet at the sandlot at 7:00am. Then we go to Roxas' house to wake him up--"

"I thought we're not doing that anymore," Pence said. "Naminé wakes him up every morning now."

"How's that going by the way?" Olette asked, looking for a change in subject.

"L-Let's not talk about that." Roxas sighed and buried his face in his hands. "It was so embarrassing the first time she came over to wake me up! I mean, a girl saw me in just a shirt and boxers--"

"Hang on, you don't mind me seeing you in your boxers," Olette pointed out.

"So? What's your point?" Unfortunately, it was after he asked the question that he realized the implication. Olette's eyes narrowed threateningly as he tried to cover up his small lapse in judgement. "I-I mean that's because... I'm so used to having you around that I don't mind! A-And also because... *sigh* I'm gonna have to go shopping with you again, aren't I?"

Olette smiled, somewhat satisfied. "At least you know how to make up for your mistakes. Besides, it's not that big of a deal."

"You guys are losing focus again!" Hayner said, snapping his fingers impatiently.

Pence's shoulders sagged as he sighed in exasperation. "I can never figure it out. He has the shortest attention span at school, but you can't throw him off focus in this stuff."

"Why are you so set on making these rules anyway?" Roxas asked. "You're a rebel. You don't care about rules."

"I don't care about the rules of school. This is a completely different matter."

"How so?" Pence asked.

"It just is." A typical Hayner answer. He clicked the pen in his hands a few times and turned back to the notepad. "Anyway, since the morning tradition is no more, we should talk about the penalties we get."

"We already did that," Roxas said. "Didn't you hear? It's called 'shopping with Olette'."

"Hey! I wouldn't call shopping with me a punishment!"

"Okay, let's do that," Hayner said, ignoring Olette and scribbling it down on the notepad. "But what do we do if Olette's the one who does it?"

"Then let's just draw on her face with permanent marker or something," Roxas suggested. At that point he was cooperating only to get the stuff over with.

"That's kind of childish, don't you think?" Olette said in a condescending tone.

"I agree," Hayner said, nodding. "I was thinking of something like, she has to, I dunno, moon someone."

A momentary silence filled the Usual Spot as everyone stared at Hayner.

"I'll take the drawing on my face," Olette said.

"Huh? Wait--"

"_I said, I'll take the drawing on my face_."

"Er... yeah, okay.... so now we move on to--"

Hayner was interrupted by a loud obnoxious voice coming from outside the gate. From what they could hear, it sounded like Seifer's gang was passing by and heading toward the sandlot.

Roxas, Pence, and Olette simply stared at Hayner as he drifted off, listening to the other gang pass by. His attention shifted, focusing on the half-melted ice cream he had wasted just a few minutes ago.

"It's a shame to let it go to waste..." A mischievious smile spread across his face. "Let's toss it at Seifer."

The abrupt change in topic was followed by silence as everyone stared at Hayner.

"...Yeah, this is why I can never figure it out," Pence repeated.

"Hayner, you were talking about the gang's rules and stuff," Olette reminded. The other two boys groaned. They didn't know why Olette had to remind him. They were perfectly happy to go on with his whimsical self.

"Oh yeah, that... Let's just continue tomorrow," Hayner said dismissively. "C'mon, help me look for something to put the ice cream in."

"But if we do that, you'd be breaking a rule."

Hayner stared at Olette questioningly. "What are you talking about?"

"It was one of the first rules you mentioned: All of the gang's activities should be followed through to the end."

Hayner was slightly taken aback. "B-but this doesn't count. It isn't really an activity!"

"An activity shall be defined as an event when the whole gang is present and knowingly participating in a single act. You said it yourself." She guestured around. "We're all here. We know that we're all talking about the gang's rules. So this is an activity."

"B-but--"

"So if you go through with your prank on Seifer, you'll be stopping this activity in the middle of it. Meaning that you'll be breaking a rule you made."

Hayner was silent. He never did like going back on something he said or did. Then again, he also never liked passing up a chance to mess with Seifer. It was quite a struggle for him.

Roxas smirked. All that was needed is a little push and this whole thing would end on happy note.

"If you break the rules, you have to go shopping with Olette, remember?"

And just like that, Hayner's mind was made up. He pulled off the page containing all the rules and regulations of the gang and without any hesitation at all, tore that piece of paper into shreds.

"...Yeah... I've been thinking... and this stuff really isn't our style," he said. "We're more of the 'make it up as you go' kind of people."

"That's just you," Pence pointed out.

"Fine, whatever. So let's just scrap this thing and prank Seifer already!"

Already too eager to begin, Hayner quickly tossed the torn pieces of paper into the nearby bin (something the guys put after a number of Olette's environmental rants), just picked up the dripping ice cream with his hands, and hurried after Seifer.

"Hey, wait up! I wanna throw some too!" Roxas got up and scrambled after Hayner.

Pence laughed. "I was right. The only tradition in this gang is that we'll always do whatever we feel like is fun. Right Olette?"

"...Shopping with me isn't all that bad, is it?" she asked.

He fidgeted under her gaze. "W-well, you know... t-there are just some circumstances... that guys can kinda..."

"What?"

"...Hayner! Roxas! Wait up! I wanna take a picture of you doing it!" Pence quickly left the Usual Spot in search of the other two.

As soon as Pence left, Olette couldn't help but crack a smile. "The second tradition: Keep Olette happy."

* * *

A/N: I actually started this before the previous chapter, but it felt more chronologically correct to put this out later. Besides, I could never write it properly before now, and even now it feels a little... iffy. Got a few arcs in mind, but probably won't write them for a while. I wanna write a few chapters centering on different characters before that. Please review!


	6. Popularity

**Popularity**

It was a weekday midafternoon. Despite Twilight Town's deceptive aura of children frolicking in the streets at any hour of the day, the actuality was that this only occurred during vacations. Like any other town, education was mandatory, which explained the general lack of activity in the main streets. All those that would cause trouble were still trapped at school.

Roxas yawned and laid his head on the desk, facing the window. It was such a nice day outside, too perfect to spend even a minute indoors. The whole day was being wasted, while he just felt like getting up, and jumping out the--

"Roxas! Step away from the window and sit back down!" the teacher barked.

The boy was shaken out of his reverie. He hadn't realized that his brain had temporarily acted out his whimsical desires. Honestly, that was what happened when you keep a boy like him indoors on such a day. Not to mention that he was seated right next to the window, a permanent temptation teasing him all day. It was a wonder that boys jumping out classroom windows wasn't a regular occurrence.

As he grudgingly took his seat, he noticed that his seatmate was trying to call his attention. If he remembered correctly, the girl's name was Yuna.

"Hey, Roxas?"

"Hm?"

"T-There's something I wanna ask you..."

Roxas gave a casual shrug, motioning for her to continue. But that was when he noticed it. Her somewhat nervous demeanor, restless eyes and a body that wouldn't stop fidgeting. Coupled with the fact that she was not only giving off an aura of a nervous person, she was also clearly embarrassed, judging by the light blush spread across her face.

_"T-This person...?! I-Isn't this the profile of someone who's about to confess?? But I already have Naminé! ...Well, not that we're going out or anything but still!"_

"C-Could I come with you to see Pence later?"

"...Huh?"

-x-

It was between classes, and Hayner was making his way toward the chemistry lab when he noticed someone standing by Pence's locker... and it wasn't Pence. Nor was it Olette or Roxas trying to borrow one of his textbooks (Pence always took care of his stuff). It was a girl, who he was pretty sure was an upperclassman called Yuffie.

Hayner shrugged off the initial wierd feeling. Just because she was standing in front of Pence's locker didn't mean that she had any particular business with Pence. At least that was what he thought until he saw her glance nervously around, slip a note into Pence's locker, and then rush off.

"...What the heck??"

-x-

The final bell had rung. Many students had already gathered up their things and were already headed out the school gates. Olette herself just needed to drop off a few things at her locker before she met with the boys in front of the school. But then, maybe their meeting place had changed, because she could see Hayner and Roxas standing right outside the doors to the gym, peeking inside.

"What are you two doing?"

"Shhh!"

Olette quirked an eyebrow at their behaviour but decided it would be easier to play along. She creeped over to where they were and after getting a silent approval from the two, she took a quick look inside. All she could see was that Pence and Yuna were talking on the bleachers. Nothing particularly interesting.

"And? What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Are you blind??" Roxas exclaimed. "Pence is there!"

"And not only is he there, he's with a girl!" Hayner added.

"Alone!"

"Okay... so? I still don't see what the commotion is about."

"We've already spelled it out, Olette. Pence is _alone _with a _girl_," Hayner repeated.

"Not to mention that it was Yuna who asked to meet Pence! She even asked me to give them a minute!"

"And it's not just that! Yuffie slipped a note into his locker earlier, saying that she wanted to talk to him about something important."

"Wait... you broke into Pence's locker again?!" Olette screeched.

Hayner gave a casual shrug. "Olette, you can't call it breaking in unless I actually break something. I just _happened_ to take a peak one time he was entering his combination, and it just so happens that I have very good memory."

Roxas raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you kidding me? Last week, you forgot how to get to a school you've been going to for years."

"That doesn't count! I spaced out is all! Why are we even talking about this?? We're talking about Pence!"

"And how you invade his privacy by spying on him and breaking into his locker."

"Focus, Olette. Anyway, do you see the problem now?"

Olette frowned, still not understanding the situation the same way the boys saw it. "...Yeah, sorry guys, but I'm still not seeing it."

"The problem is--!" Roxas froze in the middle of his sentence, as if his train of thought had been broken. Then a confused expression appeared on his face. "...Actually, I'm not really sure anymore. Remind me again Hayner?"

"It's a problem because... y-you know..."

Olette smirked, finally figuring it out. "Ohhh, I get it."

"Great! So could you explain it to me? 'Cause I forget," Roxas said.

Olette smiled and complied. "For you Roxas, you're just not used to seeing Pence with another girl other than me. That's why you feel it's so weird."

The boy gave a shrug of partial approval. "Yeah, sounds right."

"But for you Hayner," Olette continued, her smirk reappearing. "You feel threatened."

"Threatened? Me? By Pence??"

"That's right. I know you, and I know how you see yourself," Olette said. "You see, you have quite an ego, probably from proclaiming yourself leader of our little gang. You feel that you're better than any one of us in the things that matter to you. For this particular case, you view yourself as a guy capable of wooing any woman you come across--"

Olette was interrupted by a coughing fit from Roxas. He covered his mouth to hide the smile.

"For your information, that is exactly right. I _can_ woo any woman I meet." This time, Roxas couldn't hold back enough and allowed a few distinguishable laughs pass through between his coughs. "What? I can! I... just choose not to."

Olette spared the two a confused look before continuing, "Anyway, the point is, your whole life, you haven't had a single romantic relationship. And now you see Pence, who actually looks like he's getting ahead of you."

"H-He's not getting ahead of me! In fact, I can show you right now!"

Olette crossed her arms challengingly. "Oh, really? Go on, let's see it then."

Hayner gulped, but the set look on his face showed that he wasn't backing down. He took a step toward Olette.

It looked like it was Olette's turn to be put in an uncomfortable position. Her haughty air had vanished and was now taking a slightly defensive stance. "Wh-what is it? Aren't you going to show me that you don't lose to Pence in getting girls?"

Hayner stayed silent, and took another slow step toward Olette. His face was turning bright red but his expression remained unchanged.

"W-Why are you... I-I mean, wha--"

"What are you guys doing?"

The gym doors were open now, with Pence standing at the doorway. He was staring at them with a peculiar expression, which voiced his question well enough that he really didn't have to ask.

Hayner's momentum being completely thrown off with Pence's arrival, he simply continued his motion and walked toward Olette... and then right past her. He broke into a sprint and didn't even look back as he rounded the gym's corner.

Roxas sighed. "Aww, Pence. You've got awful timing. I was just about to see something good."

Olette finally regained some measure of composure and looked toward where Hayner had run off. "W-Where did he go?"

"Probably went to the track field to blow off some steam," Roxas answered. "He'll be back in a bit."

"So are you guys gonna tell me what you're doing here?"

"That's what we should be asking you," Roxas said.

Olette nodded, remembering what brought them there in the first place. "Yeah, is there something going on between you and Yuna? Or maybe Yuffie?"

"What? Why are you-- Hayner broke into my locker again didn't he?"

"Technically, he didn't break in."

"Stop defending him, Roxas," Olette reprimanded. "You'd call it breaking in if he did it to you."

"Probably," he smirked. "So, you and Yuna...?"

"Are just friends," Pence answered plainly.

"Whaaat??"

Hayner had finally reappeared, coming from the opposite side from where he left. He was sweating and panting heavily, which was completely understandable since the only way to get around the gym was to go almost halfway around the school grounds.

Roxas checked the clock hanging above the gym doors. "Half a minute. Must be a school record."

"Nevermind that! There's nothing between you and Yuna?? Not even Yuffie??" Hayner asked.

Pence gave him an awkward look. "No."

As soon as that single word reached his ears, he simply collapsed onto the ground, practically unconscious. Roxas sighed, walked over, and waved a hand over his face. Hayner gave no reaction.

"I-Is he alright?" Olette asked.

"He'll be fine," Roxas answered, unfazed by the events. He reached into his bag, and pulled out a sea-salt ice cream popsicle.

Olette couldn't help but ask. "...Um, Roxas? You keep... ice cream in your bag?"

"Yeah. My bag's insulated, and I need it for emergencies."

"What kind of emergency would need ice cream?" Pence asked.

"This." Roxas thrust the popsicle into Hayner's mouth almost as if he were driving a sword into the ground. There was a short awkward moment as everyone stared at an unconscious Hayner, with the popsicle lodged into his mouth as far as Roxas could force it in.

Hayner suddenly bolted upright, choking on the ice cream popsicle. He pulled the sweet out of his mouth and took a good long stare at it. Apparently satisfied, he put it back into his mouth.

"So, what _is_ going on between you and those girls?" Hayner asked, getting back on his feet.

"...Sorry, but I'm having trouble taking you seriously after seeing you revived via ice cream."

"Would you just spit it out?"

Pence stopped to wave at a girl passing by before answering Hayner. "I'm telling you, there's nothing."

Hayner paused to look at the girl Pence had just waved to. "Who was that?"

"Who?"

"That girl."

"Oh, that was Ashe, a friend."

"And you meet with her every now and then? To talk to? _Alone?_" Roxas asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"...How many girls do you do this with?"

"I dunno... eleven, twelve maybe? For the regular ones, I mean."

Hayner, Olette, and Roxas stared dumbfounded at Pence, not only because of the great feat he had achieved, but also because he said it like it was nothing.

Roxas turned to Olette. "I'm not sure... but does this make him a playboy or something?"

She pondered the thought. "Not unless he's dating them all. You aren't, are you?" she asked Pence.

"Of course not! I dunno, I think girls are just comfortable talking to me about their problems and stuff. Sort of like a counselor maybe?"

"Okay. Then he's just a ladies' man," Olette concluded.

Roxas gave a low whistle. "Wow, Pence. Maybe you should give Hayner lessons."

"I don't need lessons! I know plenty of girls!" Hayner argued.

"Your mom and Olette count as plenty?"

"Shut up. And what about you??"

The skater shrugged. "I don't really care about that."

"Besides," Olette added, "Roxas is popular enough with the girls as it is."

"...I am?"

"He is??"

She nodded. "Sure. A lot of girls come to me asking what kind of girl Roxas likes. Then I just point to Naminé."

"You WHAT?!"

"I'm kidding," she smiled. "But I do tell them you're practically taken."

"What about me?" Hayner asked. "Bet you've had your hands full with people asking about me?"

Olette avoided his gaze. "...You could say that..."

Hayner gave her a suspicious look. "What does that mean?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Most of them are teachers who ask what the heck I'm doing hanging around you. Plus my mom."

Roxas sensed something, and raised a hand to stop Hayner from reacting too soon. "Hang on... you're not saying everything. What about the other 'some'?"

"...The very few others are kinda interested in... the two of you," she said, looking at Roxas and Hayner.

Hayner gave her a quizzical look. "The two of us? What does my popularity have to do with him?"

"Well, it's the popularity of the idea of you two... being together..."

Dead silence passed between them as the two boys tried to process the information that was given to them: That there were girls who were hooking the two of them up in their fantasies. Olette was glad that she had only said that little. She had neglected to mention that there were even more people paring up Hayner and Seifer. There would probably be no recovery from that.

"You guys okay?" Pence asked.

Roxas started walking along briskly, at the same time pulling another popsicle from his bag and sticking it into his mouth. He was followed immediately by Hayner. "I'm gonna need a lot more ice cream."

"H-Hey wait up!" Olette called, catching up with them. "What about me?"

Hayner and Roxas were walking at their fastest sustainable pace, and didn't even turn to answer her. "What do you mean 'what about you'?"

Olette twiddled her thumbs shyly. "Well, _my _popularity. You know, do any guys go to you, asking about me?"

Pence caught up to them from behind. "The truth is, you were pretty popular before."

Olette stopped to face him. "What do you mean before?"

"Well, you probably still are now, but they sure aren't asking us anymore," Roxas called from ahead.

"What? How come?"

"They didn't have the guts to follow through," Hayner answered gruffly. "Bottom line is they probably weren't good enough for you, giving up from that little..."

"Huh?"

"Roxas! I'll race you to the shop!"

"You're on!"

The two boys raced on ahead, leaving before Olette could ask any more questions about her would-be suitors. She puffed her cheeks out in irritation and turned to Pence, the only person left she could squeeze any information out of.

"Seriously, what's going on?"

He avoided her gaze, unsure of how to handle the situation. Then, he thought of the perfect way out.

"You can answer that if you answer this question."

"Okay, what's the question?"

"What do you think Hayner was going to do if I hadn't interrupted earlier?"

Olette immediately blushed a deep red, trying to stutter out an answer. "H-How should I know?! You should be asking Hayner, not me!" She turned her back to Pence. "W-We're getting left behind, so let's hurry up."

Without even waiting for an answer, she started jogging after the two that had gone ahead. Pence smiled. Hopefully, that was worth an inch of progress beween the two.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is finally done! Ugh, seriously, I dunno if I just lost my momentum because of the finals or what, but I had serious problems getting this down. And even now, I'm not entirely happy with it. I'm still not comfortable with dialogue dominated writing. Still, feels good to let this out. I'll try to update again before classes start again for me. Please review!


	7. The Other Side

**The Other Side**

It was early in the morning. The sky had only just turned into its signature orange glow. Most of the streets were still empty, with people only starting wake up. But walking along one of the brick pathways, there were already a couple of people who had already started their day. Though one of these people wasn't quite used to such an early start.

"Sorry to wake you up so early, Roxas," Naminé apologized as he let out another yawn. "But I have some business with the student council."

Roxas smiled sheepishly. "It's fine. I can always nap before class. Maybe during class too."

"Still, you're not that used to getting up early, right? You could have just asked Olette and the others to wake you up like before."

"Nah, they always complain and stuff... and... and..."

Naminé looked at Roxas and stifled a laugh. It looked like he had actually fallen asleep while walking. It didn't seem to affect how he was functioning though, more like he was now on autopilot than completely asleep.

"And what Roxas?"

"And... and... I like it when Naminé wakes me up..."

Naminé's usually pale white skin suddenly changed into a deep shade of red as blood rushed to her face. He was just sleeptalking, wasn't he? Did he really mean anything that he was saying? Maybe she shouldn't take whatever he was saying at the moment seriously. She fumbled with words, trying to form some kind of conversation in her head that would clear up his statements.

"U-um... Rox--"

"I like ice cream too..."

"...Oh."

-x-

They somehow managed to make it to the school grounds without incident, other than the few times Roxas narrowly missed colliding with a few obstacles on the way. The boy was still somewhere between dreamland and reality. Even now, he still didn't seem to realize that they had reached their destination. Naminé shook him awake.

"Nnh? Oh, we're here already?"

Naminé smiled. "Yeah. I have to go over to the student council room now. Do you want to come with me?"

"I probably shouldn't," he said, holding back a yawn. "I think I'd get in everyone's way with me sleeping all over the place."

She nodded. "Okay, I'll see you later then." She started off toward the school building, but then stopped in a half step, as if there was still something more. "H-Hey Roxas... do you like ice cream?"

A confused expression appeared on Roxas' face. "Sure. I eat a popsicle almost everyday. Why do you ask?"

She couldn't stop her face from flushing red once more. "N-no reason. I-I'll be going then."

He watched her enter the school building, and then turned toward the school courtyard. It was still quiet, not even the hardcore students would be coming anytime soon. Just as soon as he was considering finding a nice corner to sleep in, he heard someone calling him.

"Roxas!"

He turned, and saw someone waving to him from one of the benches. Even though the person was quite far, Roxas could recognize that hair anywhere.

"Axel!"

Axel was an upperclassman, and one of Roxas' closest friends. They hung out together every now and then, and could get into the strangest kinds of trouble with the weirdest and occasionally dangerous people. But for some reason, he always disappeared whenever Hayner or the others were around. Then again, Axel was the type to mix with only a select few people.

Roxas went over to where Axel was sitting. "What are you doing at school so early? Trying to burn the school down?"

"Hey, just because my hair is red and carry a lighter wherever I go doesn't mean I'll set anything on fire." He looked up at the already bright sky. "Besides, it's already light out. A burning school is more impressive when it's dark."

Roxas laughed. "Not just a pyro, but an arsonist too."

"Come on, you know I won't do anything too dangerous."

"You set Larxene's hair on fire."

Axel paused, thinking back on the event "...Okay, fine. That was definitely the most dangerous thing I've ever done, but you dared me to. And you still owe me ice cream from that, by the way."

"Aww, but I only have three popsicles with me today!"

Axel held out an open hand. "C'mon, give it here."

Roxas smirked. "Well, if you want it so bad..."

While this was going on, another person was entering the school grounds. She had arrived at school early hoping that she would have enough time to prepare for school. She had even skipped breakfast to get there so early. But now that she was there, she realized that there was no one at school to guide her to where she needed to go.

She figured she'd have to manage on her own, but then she heard a couple of voices echoing through the courtyard. She followed the voices, just in time to see a blonde shove something into a redhead's mouth. She would honestly rather not interrupt their conversation seeing as they were kind of in a world of their own, or perhaps she was seeing a murder take place, since the redhead seemed to be choking to the blonde's amusement. Then again, the latter was less likely, so she took her chances.

"Um, excuse me!"

Roxas paused from forcing the popsicle down Axel's throat to look toward the voice. The person that had called out was a girl who looked to be about his age, judging from her height. She had short black hair, clear blue eyes, and a nice friendly face. Actually, she looked a little like one of Roxas' cousin's friends from Destiny Islands.

"Hey, can we help you?"

She couldn't help but be distracted by Axel, who was bending over the bench and coughing, the ice cream popsicle now safely extracted from his mouth. "U-um... is he ok?"

"I'm good, I'm good," Axel choked out. "That's nothing compared to what Larxene does to me."

"That's true," Roxas agreed. He turned back to the girl. "So, was there something you needed?"

"Oh, right! Could you tell me where the administration office is? I'm new here, you see."

Axel sat back down on the bench and lazily pointed to the school building. "Go inside, take a right, go straight past the chem lab, turn left, it's the second room on your left after the storage closet. Got it memorized?"

"Stop acting like yourself Axel, at least when meeting new people," Roxas chided. "She's new here, how do you expect her to follow those directions? I doubt you'd know where to find the office if you weren't sent there so much."

"Okay, okay. So you're expecting me to show my nice side this time and play tour guide?"

Roxas smiled. "You _are_ the best at babysitting, aren't you?" He turned back to the girl. "Don't mind that attitude of his. He's a pretty soft guy."

"Am not," Axel retorted, standing up. "Come on, we'll show you the way."

"N-No, you don't have to! I'm sure I can find the place on my--"

She was interrupted by her own stomach, growling loud enough for both boys to hear it. She blushed a deep red, completely embarrassed. Maybe she shouldn't have skipped breakfast.

Roxas just smiled and dug into his bag, pulling out a popsicle. "Here. It's not much, but it's every kid's dream breakfast."

She shook her head, declining the offer. "N-No, it's fine! I'm not that hungry!"

"You don't have to be so polite. I have one more left for me, and trust me, if you don't take it, people are going to fight over it later."

"No, I couldn't--"

She was cut off once again, this time by Axel grabbing the popsicle from Roxas and pushing it into her mouth. "There, now you can't do anything about it."

She wasn't quite sure how to react to that but she supposed he was just trying to be nice, so she settled for being grateful. "...Thanks."

Roxas smiled, pulling out the last bar of ice cream and sticking it in his mouth. It was a weird way of being nice, but it was Axel's way of being nice. "C'mon, we'll show you the office. Might as well give you a tour while were at it."

They had started walking toward the school building when Roxas realized something.

"Oh, maybe we should introduce ourselves. I'm Roxas."

"Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

She smiled. "My name is Xion. Nice to meet you two."

-x-

"Hey, have you guys seen Roxas around recently?"

Pence and Olette looked up at Hayner's question. They were hanging out at the Usual Spot like they always did, but this time, the blonde skater was nowhere in sight.

"Of course we have," Pence said. "We see him all the time."

"Yeah, I know.. but recently, he isn't _here_ as much."

Olette pondered his words. "Hm, I think I know what you mean. It's like his mind is elsewhere sometimes."

"Yeah, and now he shows up late, or sometimes never shows up at all."

"But it's not like he ditches us or anything," Pence reasoned. "He always tells us whenever something like that happens."

"I know, I know, but it's bugging me..." Hayner scrunched his eyebrows, trying to figure out what exactly was bothering him. "Argh! In times like this, there's only ice cream!"

Pence and Olette could only smile. This was an expected development. They ran out of the Usual Spot, chasing him as he went to cut across the Sandlot. But they were surprised to see him stop right on top of the stairs, looking at something. They could see his body, tense, as if a an electric shock had passed through him. Yet his eyes were narrowed in a condescending manner.

As soon as the two caught up to him, they could see could see what he was looking at with so much aggression. And strangely, it was... Roxas. But he wasn't alone. It looked like he was sparring with a girl, and there was a tall redhead watching them from the sidelines.

"Didn't Roxas say he had to meet with some people after school?" Pence asked.

Olette shrugged. "Maybe this is them. What do you think Hayner? ...Hayner?"

Apparently, Hayner hadn't even bothered to listen to the conversation. He was already walking toward the other trio, that cold look still in his eyes.

"Roxas." From saying the name alone, his tone was sharp. It looked like he meant business.

Roxas paused from sparring with the girl to look up. Unfortunately for him, his opponent took this as an opportunity to smack the blue foam bat squarely across his chest.

"Time out," Axel called, watching as Roxas was sent rolling across the Sandlot. The blonde came to stop not too far away from him, which meant Xion had knocked him quite a fair distance.

"A little late there, Axel," Roxas groaned, laying face down on the ground. That hit had hurt. He didn't care how soft everyone said that bat was, Xion could really fight.

Xion rushed over and helped Roxas stand up. "Sorry, Roxas! I didn't mean to hit you so hard."

"Nah, it's fine," he said dismissively, as he leaned on her. "It's part of the fun. And if you didn't enjoy seeing me rolling across the Sandlot, I'm sure Axel did."

"I'm torn between laughing and sympathizing," Axel said with a smirk, walking over and helping Roxas get steady on his feet. He looked toward Hayner, who seemed a little pissed that he had been ignored for a while. "It's Hayner, right?"

Hayner ignored him, focusing only on Roxas. "You said you had to meet someone, right?"

Roxas looked up, recognizing his friend. "Oh, hey Hayner! Yeah, this is them. Xion's new here, and I thought me and Axel could show her what's fun to do here, like the Struggle."

He spared Roxas' two companions a look of disdain before looking back at Roxas. "Great. You're done. C'mon, we're gonna go get ice cream."

"It's okay, you can go ahead. I kinda feel like going another round." He turned to Xion. "Is that okay with you?"

"What the heck is up with you??" Hayner said, his voice raising in volume. Pence and Olette finally decided to join Hayner by his side. After knowing Hayner for so long, they knew from the way he was acting that they might need to hold him back.

Roxas stared wide eyed at Hayner. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You've been disappearing recently! You don't hang out with us! You're always in a hurry to go somewhere! And now you'd rather hang out with them than us?!"

Roxas' eyes narrowed, finally recognizing the way Hayner was acting. The best way to deal with it was usually to just go along with him, but his attitude made him less inclined to do so.

"Stop being an idiot, Hayner," Roxas said, his voice now serious. "We go for ice cream all the time. Let it go this once."

"I don't get why you even bother," Hayner scoffed. "It's just a waste of your time to be sparring with a _girl_."

"Don't call her a girl," Axel said.

Xion gave him a weird look. "Axel... I am a girl."

"What he means is that you're one of us, it doesn't matter if you're a girl or a guy. Besides," Roxas turned his now cold eyes back to Hayner, "this girl is tougher than you."

Hayner clenched his teeth in frustration. "If she's that tough, then she should be able to stop me from grabbing her weapon, right?!"

As soon as he shouted those words, he lunged right at Xion. Roxas didn't even have to watch. Not even five seconds later, Hayner was knocked back, laying flat on the ground.

"I-I'm sorry!" Xion apologized. "It's just that you attacked so suddenly that I--"

"What the hell is this about Roxas?!" Hayner propped himself up on his elbows, ignoring Xion's apology. "Why are you siding with them?!"

Roxas was silent, but the glare in his eyes said more than enough. He was angry because his friends weren't getting along. He was angry because his friends weren't accepting each other. And he was angry because even though Hayner wasn't saying it, he was making him choose between his friends. And he hated that.

Roxas turned his back to Hayner. "Let's go, Xion. Axel."

A strange sensation pierced everyone. It was like a blade of ice chilling all of them, freezing that single painful moment.

"Roxas!" Hayner had jumped back to his feet. His voice was different somehow. Other than the apparent anger and rage, there was something else mixed into it. Worry. Panic.

Roxas must have not heard it. He didn't look back as he led Xion and Axel away.

* * *

A/N: Whoo! I actually made my deadline this time! With 13 hours to spare! And even though classes are starting again, I guess I'll try raising the bar for me and update at least every two weeks.

Anyway, it's finally Axel and Xion's debut! I don't have a DS, but since I really really wanted to know the story, I watched the entire 358/2 days on youtube. The trio's friendship was so awesome, I couldn't wait to write about them. Still, this fic centers on Twilight Town's gang of four. Ideas have been piling up, so I'll try and update as soon as I can. Please review!

Oh, and I wanna thank laugh-out-loud94 for all the reviews. Seriously, your reviews always give me an extra kick to get writing, so thanks again!


	8. Horizon: Intersecting Parallels

**Horizon - Intersecting Parallels**

The ringing of the final bell resonated throughout the school hallways, activating the ever present impulse of the students to grab their stuff before the teacher could get another word out. Students immediately started flooding into the hall, and among the first in this wave of students was Xion, who was still pulling her bag out of her shoulder as she ran out the chemistry lab. Ignoring the lab instructor's calls with a playful smirk, she sprinted down the hallway and ran away as fast as she could. Hopefully, getting away that fast would serve as a half decent excuse for any assignment she might have not heard.

She jumped out the school's double doors into the courtyard, the warm glow of twilight enveloping her. Even though she had only moved to Twilight Town a little over a week ago, she already loved the place, even the simple atmosphere.

"You know, there's a rule here that you can't run in the halls."

She turned to the speaker, that playful smile still on her face. "I've read the student handbook, and there's also a rule here that you can't set stuff on fire, Axel."

Axel exited the school building, joining her in the courtyard. "The pyro jokes are getting old," he said, grinning good-naturedly. "And believe it or not, I read the student handbook when I enrolled here, and it never said anything against setting anything on fire."

"Setting things on fire is destruction of school property."

Axel sighed. "Jeez, I thought Roxas nagging me was bad. Now I've got you too."

"Hey, I do not nag. I just--" She drifted off, something catching her eye. Axel followed her line of sight, and his gaze fell on three teenagers who looked like they were already about to leave. He had seen them before. They were usually really noisy people, but now they were just quiet, an uncomfortable and tense air hanging between them. It probably had something to do with the fact that they were usually four.

Xion looked at them, a shimmer of guilt and sadness in her eyes. "Those are Roxas' friends... aren't they?"

"Are, were... I dunno... but yeah, Roxas' friends."

They watched them silently as they left the school grounds. That awkward air around them never left.

"...Is it my fault?"

Axel looked at her. Even though her face seemed passive, he knew her well enough by now that she was getting torn up inside over what was happening.

He reached out and ruffled her hair playfully, a gentle smile appearing on his face. "Don't be so full of yourself. You couldn't have done that all on your own. At the very least, save some of the guilt for me."

Xion nodded, a sad smile appearing on her face. "Thanks, Axel."

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

The two turned to find Roxas approaching them. Despite his cheerful smile, Axel could tell that he wasn't his usual self, and Xion could also sense the small cracks in his attempt to keep things as normal as possible.

Axel waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, nothing important. Just saying that detention last month was unfair, since Larxene's hair isn't school property."

"You should be thankful you got detention. It gave Larxene a chance to cool down before she got to you," Roxas said, laughing. To Xion, his laugh sounded different from the times she had heard him laugh before. A laugh is a laugh, but the fact that there was a hollow sound in it made so much of a difference.

She hoped that there was still a chance to hear that laugh again. She was sure that those people wanted to hear it too.

-x-

It was quiet in the Usual Spot. This was the usual indicator that there was nobody inside at the moment, since the place had the unusual characteristic of making anyone who entered the place an instant noisemaker, whether it was talking or something crashing, there was always noise.

This was why it was surprising that there actually was someone at the Usual Spot. Hayner was there, and not only was he being uncharacteristically quiet, he was also sitting still. Considering the probability of these two happening at the same time, the situation could arguably be called a miracle.

Of course, Hayner wouldn't call that situation a miracle. He'd call it unbearably annoying. He hated the fact that this place, his sanctuary, couldn't even give him any peace of mind. It was never like this whenever Pence and Olette went to buy ice cream. Probably because he and Ro--

He shook his head, breaking off his thoughts. He didn't want to think about that idiot. He stood up and walked over to a small box in the corner of the room, where Pence kept a few of their pictures. Maybe throwing darts at that picture of Seifer would calm him down.

He shuffled through the photos, grinding his teeth harder with every photo. Why the heck was _he_ in almost every photo? He stopped at one particular picture that featured him laughing like the idiot that he was. The more he looked at it, the more irritated he got. That stupid idiot. That bonehead. That blondie.

Suddenly, he wasn't interested in looking for a picture of Seifer. The one he had right now would work much better. He went over the dartboard, pinned it in place and pulled out a few darts. He positioned himself at the other side of the room, focusing on his target: that stupid, annoying face of his. Just looking at it got his temper up.

"FREAKIN' IDIOT!!"

He threw the dart with all his might with a baseball type pitch. The projectile rocketed across the room, missed the board completely, and bounced off the brick wall. He threw the darts one after another, yelling different variations of the word 'idiot'. With each dart, he threw a little bit of everything, his anger, frustration, guilt. It didn't take long before he was out of darts, out of breath, and completely frustrated by the fact that not one of the darts he threw found the intended target. He looked at the picture again. He felt like he was being mocked.

"Um... hello."

Hayner looked up to see who it was. He glared at the person. Other than _that idiot_, this was another person he didn't want to see. It was especially irritating since she actually looked like she was worried about him.

"Outsiders aren't allowed in this hangout."

Xion gave a nearly unnoticeable flinch, hearing the edge in Hayner's voice. Still, she ignored what he said and stepped further inside the Usual Spot. She went over to the dartboard and examined the picture.

"It's a nice picture isn't it?"

"Didn't I tell you to leave?"

Once again, she ignored Hayner's callous words and continued to look at the picture, her back to him. "He had the exact same expression on his face when I first met him. It told me something about him."

"That he's an idiot."

Xion turned and smiled at Hayner. "Maybe a little, but what I really thought was: he seems like a nice guy."

Hayner stayed silent and then decided that he'd rather stare at the brick wall than have a conversation with this girl. Xion started pacing around the room, looking at the various things that were scattered around the Usual Spot.

"Him and Axel became my first friends here in Twilight Town. I was actually a little shocked at how fast I made friends, since I'm not really that outgoing. But then I realized it was more them befriending me than the other way around. And because of them, I already love this town. I feel really happy here."

She stopped at the small box that Hayner had left open. She reached in and pulled out a photograph; the one of the four of them standing outside the gates of the haunted mansion out in Twilight Woods.

"What do you want?"

Xion turned to face him, that pleasant smile still on her face. Her eyes conveyed something different though, that she was serious about what she was saying.

"I want to help my friends."

Hayner gave a derisive snort. "So? What does that have to do with me?"

"You're one of the people I'm trying to help."

Hayner shot her a sharp look. "And since when the heck have we been friends?"

"Ever since I've been friends with Roxas," Xion answered with a smile. "I consider his friends, my friends."

"Then you can stop that," Hayner snapped. "Because I don't consider _him_ my friend anymore."

"That's too bad, because he still considers all of you friends."

"Well, if he wasn't such an idiot, things wouldn't have to be this way."

A sad smile appeared on her face. "I guess there are times we can be stupid about the simplest things."

Xion crossed back across the room and stood by the wire gate, her back towards Hayner. "I guess all I really want to say is: he misses you guys, and he wishes you could all make up."

She turned and gave Hayner a smile. "Actually, I'm wishing for the same thing too." With those as her final words, she pushed the gate open and left Hayner alone.

Hayner let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, and collapsed into the sofa. That Xion girl really ticked him off. What was up with her, talking like she knew everything? He was distracted from his own thoughts when he heard the creaking of the wire gate announcing Pence and Olette's arrival, carrying the usual sweets in a small plastic bag.

"What took you guys?"

"Oh... nothing much," Olette answered. There was something in the tone of her voice, which Hayner caught.

He eyed her suspiciously. "It doesn't sound like nothing."

Olette fidgeted uncomfortably. "Actually... we ran into Roxas' friend, Axel. You know, the guy with red hair."

"Hope you kicked him in the shins."

"Hayner!"

"A little bit of the opposite," Pence said. "We talked to him."

"Why the heck would you do that?!"

"Because we're worried about Roxas. We haven't heard anything from him at all in nearly a week. And we wanted to know how he was doing."

Hayner didn't way anything. It always came back to _him_. Every topic, every conversation, _he_ just had to be involved in some way. It just made his temper even worse whenever that idiot was mentioned.

He stood up, trying his best to fight the uncomfortable atmosphere. He reached out for the plastic bag in Pence's hands. "C'mon, the ice cream will melt if we don't eat it soon."

As soon as he took the bag from Pence, he could feel it. The familiar weight that didn't change from before. He took a look inside, confirming his initial assuptions. There were four popsicles. It took all of Hayner's efforts to contain the storm of emotions inside of him. He was sure that if he let himself blow up again, he would regret it. Just like he regretted...

He forced a smile on his face. "Hey, even though you bought me an extra popsicle, I'm definitely not paying for it, alright?"

"Hayner... won't you talk to him?" Olette asked. Her voice was pained, pleading.

The stranger that was silence entered the Usual Spot once more. A silence that crept in from the gap that was left gaping and wide open, a wound that would not heal.

Hayner grabbed two of the popsicles from inside of the bag and passed them roughly to his friends. He tossed the bag with the remaining popsicle aside and walked passed them.

"C'mon, let's go to the tower."

The three left the Usual Spot. A single popsicle was left behind, sitting and waiting on one end of the couch. The spot that was reserved for Roxas.

-x-

The top of the station clocktower was special to Hayner and the gang in many ways. One of the most important of these was that the stairwell leading up to the top was very well hidden. Even though they went up there quite often, to anyone who was simply watching them, it would look like that they had disappeared into thin air. It was actually the explanation for one of the lesser known mysteries of Twilight Town, the ghosts that haunt the station clocktower. The rumor prevented people from exploring the station clocktower too much, making the spot even more significant. This was a place that belonged to them.

That was why Hayner was surprised to hear voices coming from the top of the stairs.

As soon as he could hear the echoing of a conversation coming from the top of the tower, Hayner broke into a sprint, climbing the tower at top speed. He emerged from the stairs, spun to his right, and saw the three people he had no intention of getting along with. They were talking happily while sitting along the ledge, their stuff tossed into a pile at the side. They looked so relaxed, as if they were sitting in a spot that belonged to them.

Hayner clenched a fist. This spot belonged to him and his gang. Not them.

"Who do you think you are?"

Roxas, Axel, and Xion paused from their conversation, finally noticing Hayner. His eyes were dark and threatening. His clenced fist was looking for a face to make contact with.

"This spot belongs only to one group of people, and only those people should know about this place... And then you... you think you can just bring anyone you like up here?!" Hayner yelled. Pence and Olette had finally caught up with him, rushing as soon as they heard the rage in his shouts.

Xion got up immediately, panic crossing her face. This wasn't how she imagined Roxas and his friends would reunite. "No, it's not Roxas' fault! I found this place the other day and invited--"

"Shut up! You're not the one I'm talking to!"

Xion flinched, backing down a step. She had thought that Hayner would be willing to reconcile with Roxas after their talk. But it seems that because of the situation they were caught in, the opposite happened. She was fumbling around for the words, trying to remedy the situation, but Hayner's glare was freezing all of her thoughts.

"And just who do you think you are?"

Roxas stood up, his glare as cold as Hayner's. He was definitely angry. Just a few moments ago, he was talking to Axel and Xion about how much he missed Hayner and the others and what he could do to reconcile with them. But then this person comes around, yelling and talking down to everyone, his other friends. He was in no mood to be friendly at the moment.

"That attitude of yours really ticks me off," Roxas growled. "You think you're above everyone, seperating people into your gang and outsiders. Claiming certain spots as yours and kicking anyone else out. Just about everyone needs your seal approval to do anything, don't they?!"

"Stop twisting this argument to suit you!"

"The one who's twisting things around is you!"

They both reached their limit at the exact same moment. They lunged at each other, swinging their fists forward towards each others' face. Both collided at the same time, knocking the other back. Not even pausing for a second, they sprang forward again, fighting as hard as they could, not holding anything back.

"Roxas! Hayner! Stop it!"

Xion was about to step in when Axel held her back. He was watching the two boys trade blows with a serious look in his eyes. "Let them go on for a bit. They need to get this out of their system. Even _they_ understand that."

Xion looked to the other side of the fight and saw Pence and Olette. Pence was shaking, and Olette was biting her lip. Both were holding themselves back from interfering too soon.

They all watched, sharing the pain of the battle between friends. And they saw that with every punch that they threw, when that physical manifestation of their hate and anger made contact with the other, that small bit of anger evaporated since that anger had been communicated to the other. In the end, that was all they really wanted. They both wanted the other to know how much hurt the others' actions did to them.

Despite being poetic to some degree, this created quite a problem, which Axel noticed a few moments into the fight. Roxas was a better fighter than Hayner, which meant that Roxas was landing more punches, which in turn meant that while Roxas was beginning to calm down, Hayner was only getting more riled up. In the end, Roxas could be in for a serious beating.

That was why, just before Roxas could exhaust all his intent of pummeling Hayner into a pulp, Axel grabbed Roxas from under his arms, effectively holding him back. As soon as he did, Pence and Olette also did their best to restrain Hayner.

"What the-- Axel! Let go! I'm not done yet!"

"Neither am I!" Hayner yelled. "Let me go!"

Hayner managed to push off Pence and Olette and lunged at Roxas, not caring that he was already being restrained. Axel instinctively stepped to the side to dodge Hayner. But that was when he realized: he had been standing at the very ledge of the clocktower.

Hayner realized the same thing too late. He had thrown his entire weight forward when he had lunged at Roxas. He was at the ledge, and he couldn't stop. He could feel his mind racing, the danger fueling his brain to think faster and figure out some way out of this predicament. But he knew it was hopeless. There was no way out. One more step and he would be falling, and from this height, he would definitely...

He felt a hand grab his collar from behind, trying to pull him back from running over the edge. He managed to turn his head and to his surprise found Xion pulling him back with all her might. But despite her efforts, since Hayner had been moving so fast and was much bigger than Xion, the situation became much worse. Now, the two of them were about to fall of the tower.

Hayner was already leaning out over the ledge. He glanced again at Xion. She still hadn't let go. What did she think she was doing? It wasn't too late to save herself. If she kept on holding onto him, they would both share the same fate.

He could already feel his body falling. Only the tip of his foot was his remaining contact with solid ground. Xion herself was already on the verge of stretching out over the ledge. Yet she still refused to let go. And the look in her eyes told him she absolutely no intention of letting go. It was now the point of no return. Unless she let go immediately, it was a given that they would both fall.

At that exact moment, an arm wrapped itself around Xion's waist, while the other arm joined Xion's in grabbing Hayner's collar. Hayner recognized the checkered wristband and rings. He recognized the loud grunt of effort, as along with Xion, he was pulled back up and thrown back onto the solid ground of the clocktower.

Both Hayner and Xion simply sat there awhile, dumbstruck. Maybe it had only just hit them how close they had come to a very bad ending. But this startled state of theirs didn't last long, as they were brought back to reality when a clenched fist made contact with both of their heads.

"Are you two stupid?!?!" Roxas yelled. "What were you both thinking?! How could you jump at something that was on the ledge?! Why did you let yourself get dragged over the ledge?! What the heck do you think would have happened if I hadn't pulled you back the last second?!"

Roxas' knees gave out, and he dropped to the floor. He was shaking badly, reaching even into his voice. "Freakin' idiots... don't you guys ever scare me like that again."

Hayner smiled. Somehow, he couldn't really remember the reason he was angry at Roxas. He was still the same as ever. He was still on his side. And at the same time, he was also on their side. But not even considering what side he was on, he was always a friend.

Another fist made contact with a head. This time it was Axel's fist to Roxas' head. "The same goes for you! You might've fallen too if me, Pence and Olette hadn't grabbed on to your jacket."

"Why are you hitting me? They were the ones who started it!"

"Hey, I nearly died here! Don't blame everything on me!"

Xion couldn't help but laugh. Everyone stopped, seeing the gentle, serene smile on her face. She laid flat on her back, staring into the twilight sky. "Really, I'm glad were all safe... and I'm glad we're all here."

Everyone smiled and gazed up into the sky along with her. They were glad about the same things too.

-x-

School had just ended. Roxas was waiting on a bench out in the school courtyard. He was waiting for... well, he actually wasn't that sure of who he was waiting for. But he was already preparing himself for another headache. And maybe a few other aches as well.

At the exact same moment, two people burst from the school building. They raced toward the school courtyard. They were sprinting at full speed, each trying to outrun the other, and as soon as they were in range, they jumped and tackled Roxas to the ground.

Roxas groaned, allowed himself a moment to let the pain pass, before patting the head of the one who had hit him first.

"Xion wins."

"Yes!" Xion cheered.

Hayner jumped up, indignant. "What?! No way! I have a longer reach than her! I'm sure I got to you first!"

Roxas groaned again, getting to his feet. "Believe me, Xion hit me first. And she hits really, _really _hard."

"And you know what that means, Hayner," Xion said teasingly. "Roxas hangs out with me and Axel this afternoon."

"This isn't fair!" Hayner complained. "My last class is farther from here compared to Xion's. She's got a handicap!"

"Tough luck. We agreed to compete for Roxas every Friday. This week, whoever catches Roxas first after class gets to hang out with him for the afternoon. In fact, you should even be grateful that we don't compete for him everyday, or you'd never get to hang out with him."

"This totally isn't fair! Next week, I'm choosing how we compete!"

Roxas tried to voice his opinion. "You know, you guys could just let me choose who I hang out with for the day."

They both stared him down. "Out of the question." Roxas couldn't help but sigh. It seemed that the only time they agree is whenever it's against him.

Xion grabbed Roxas' sleeve, pulling him away. "C'mon, we're meeting Axel at the tower."

"Hey! Just because I'm letting you guys use that spot doesn't mean you get to hog it!"

Xion turned and playfully stuck her tongue out at him. They both waved a friendly goodbye before they turned and ran out the school gates.

"So you lost again, huh?"

Hayner turned to find that the other two had finally arrived. Pence had his arms crossed and was shaking his head in disappointment. Olette was giving him a disapproving look.

Olette sighed. "I was really looking forward to hanging out with him today."

"So was I."

"Stop complaining. If you're so disappointed, why don't you guys try and compete?"

Pence just smirked and waved it off. "No, thanks. It's a lot more interesting when you guys do it. By the way, how many times have you lost to Xion already?"

"...Fourteen," Hayner said through gritted teeth.

"Must be quite a blow to your ego," Olette commented. She was quite happy that there was a girl that could keep Hayner's big head in check. "But I can't help but think that you actually like competing with Xion."

"You must be out of your mind." Still, Hayner couldn't hide the small smile that appeared on his face. "C'mon, let's head to the Usual Spot. I want to come up with a competition that I'm sure to win... Like a stripping contest!"

"Hayner!"

"What? I'd definitely win, wouldn't I?"

Olette shook her head. "Let's just stop talking about this already. We still have to figure out what we're bringing on our trip to Sunset Hill tomorrow. Hayner, did you ask Roxas about lunch?"

"Oh, no. I completely forgot." His monotone voice did nothing to add to the credibility of his statement. "I guess we should go chase after him, huh?" The boy was already off, running in the same direction he had seen the other two go earlier.

"Wait! Hayner! Argh, you're doing this just to mess with Xion, aren't you?"

Hayner turned and playfully stuck his tongue out at Olette. She had it spot on. After all, wasn't it fun to mess with your friends?

* * *

A/N: This chapter is finally finished. Sorry, sorry, I know I said one week but then it turned out to be a month. My professors are trying to kill me with the workload they've been giving us. Especially now since they're trying to assign everything they can before we escape to Christmas break.

Anyway, really long chapter. I was considering cutting it in two, but found that I'd be killing the momentum of the story, so big chapter it was. Another reason for it taking so long. Still, I'm happy with the way it came out. By the way, even though they're all friends in the end, this fic still focuses on the gang of four. There might be special chapters and a few appearances, but I'll try to keep Axel and Xion's roles minor. I'm sorely tempted to write a Roxas-Axel-Xion friendship collection fic, but I'm afraid that what I write will just be replicas of the events in this fic, so I'm still thinking about it. Anyway, I'll try to update quickly again. Please review!


	9. Babysitting

**Babysitting**

Hayner was walking down the paved path of Market Street, his hands laced lazily behind his head. There was a content smile on his face as his eyes roamed the surroundings with eagerness. After all, it was midway into the afternoon, which was in Hayner's opinion, the peak time of Twilight Town. It was that time of the day when you could look anywhere and see something going on. So far, he had just passed a Struggle match, a grandstanding performance, and some kid on a skateboard slamming into the bulletin board.

He let out a sigh of simple content. Still, this wasn't enough. After all, the day was never complete without his special contribution (which Roxas and the others often referred to as mayhem). He pushed the wire gate to the Usual Spot open, ready to prepare for--

A dart came rocketing out of the Usual Spot, whistling right past his ear. He heard the small clatter of the dart as it fell back to the pavement. He just stood there completely frozen, as if a single movement would set off a barrage of darts.

His mind was racing. He knew that it was the peak time of Twilight Town, meaning that almost anything was happening anywhere. But this was the Usual Spot. This was his jurisdiction. Nothing happened here that he didn't know about. So what the heck was up with that murderous dart? If he was going to die here, he should at least know about it beforehand!

"Denzel, be careful," a voice said from inside.

"I know, don't worry Marlene. I just slipped."

Hearing unfamiliar voices coming from inside the Usual Spot, _his _Usual Spot, Hayner was jolted back to his senses, or at least the little sense that was available to him. Whoever was in there had to leave. As if being in there wasn't bad enough, they were even playing around with his darts! Not to mention nearly killing him with it!

He rushed inside, his fists clenched and raised, ready just in case a physical confrontation was needed. "Alright you! I'll only ask nicely once before I-- huh?"

Hayner scanned the room, looking around a whole 360 degrees. He didn't see anyone. Not a single person. But then, where could that voice have come from?

"Hey mister!"

He jumped at the voice. It sounded like it was coming from the floor. He lowered his gaze trying to figure out where it was coming from. "Oh..."

Rather than the floor, the source was actually a few feet above it, and really close to him. Staring up at him were two kids, both who barely came up to his waist in height. There was a boy with messy brown hair, and a ponytailed girl who was looking up at him curiously.

"Hey! Mister!" the boy called.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah! What are you doing here?"

"What am I--" Hayner paused, drawing a blank. Something was a little wrong with the situation. Particularly with the roles the two of them were playing were actually switched. "Hey! That's what I should be asking you!"

The girl flinched at the aggression in Hayner's voice and took shelter behind her companion. The boy however, stood strong with a rebellious look in his eyes.

"This is me and Marlene's secret spot!"

"No it's not! This me and my gang's spot!

The wire gate creaked open. Hayner and the two kids turned to find three other people entering the Usual Spot: Roxas, Pence, and Olette. The three looked surprised to find quite a number of people there.

"Hey Hayner. Who're the kids?" Olette asked.

Hayner let out an exasperated sigh. "I dunno. I just found them here at _our_ spot."

"No, it's _our _secret spot!" the boy reltaliated.

Hayner sneered at the boy. "I don't see your names on it."

"...Actually, it looks like they do have their names here."

Roxas was bending down to a spot below the dartboard. And right there, written probably with a permanent marker for all to see was "Denzel and Marlene's Secret Spot". It was written quite big too. Anyone with a few spare seconds to look around the room would see it immediately.

The boy, Denzel, now had a smug smile on his face. "See? This is our secret spot. Right, Marlene?"

Marlene nodded timidly. She clutched onto Denzel's sleeve, a look of worry crossing her face. "But Denzel, what about them?"

"It's fine. We can make them leave. They don't have their names here." He looked at Hayner with a smug look. He was actually taunting him, daring to prove him wrong. A bad move in Hayner's opinion. He was so close to jumping the kid and drilling his knuckles into his skull until he cries or begs for mercy, whichever came first.

"Actually, we do," Roxas said.

Pence gave him a confused look. "We do? I don't remember doing anything like that."

"Well, sort of. Hayner wrote it, but only two names."

Hayner crossed his arms, a look of confusion forming on his face. He could feel something pull in the back of his head. He couldn't really remember any their names written in the Usual Spot, but the fact that not all of their names had been written sounded familar. Maybe it was from a long time ago...

Hayner's body suddenly went rigid, his eyes widened in panic. Roxas noticed this and smirked. "You remember now?"

"Y-Yeah..."

A curious look formed on Denzel's face, wondering why Hayner had suddenly lost most of his energy. He went over to Roxas and tugged on his pants. "Hey, let me see it."

"Like hell he's gonna do that!"

"Hayner! Language!"

Hayner rolled his eyes at Olette before rounding on Roxas. "You swore you'd never tell anyone about it!"

"But if we don't show the kids, we can't prove that this is our hangout. Besides, if you didn't want people to see it, you would've done something to take it off."

"I-I'm going to show it... someday..." For some reason, Hayner was starting to turn red.

Roxas smirked. "I'm sure she can't wait to see it."

Hayner shot a glare at him. "You talk too much you know."

Pence, somewhat understanding what was going on, decided to help Hayner and turn the conversation elsewhere. "So what are we gonna do about these kids?"

"Easy." Hayner went over to Denzel, who was still clutching onto Roxas pants, and pulled him up by the collar. "We throw them out."

"Denzel!" Marlene ran forward, but stopped midway, unsure of what to do. What _could_ she do?

"Hayner! Put him down right now!" Olette shouted.

"Yeah, you big bully!" Denzel yelled, flailing his arms and legs. "Put me down! You can't make us leave!"

Pence had a worried look on his face. "Don't you think you're being a bit rough?"

"Oh, come on, Pence. These kids don't belong here. This is our spot, and no one else but us is allowed to--"

WHACK!

-x-

Everyone had somewhat settled down to some extent. Denzel and Marlene sat next to Olette on the worn down sofa, Pence was leaning against the armrest, and Roxas stood leaning against the wall next to him. Hayner, on the other hand, sat crosslegged in the middle of the room, a small lump beginning to form on the back of his head.

"You didn't have to hit so hard."

A slightly sadistiic smile played on Roxas' face. He must've been interacting too much with Larxene lately. "I got a little annoyed. It hasn't been a month, but you're still claiming spots for your exclusive use."

"Besides, it's not like we have legal ownership of this place," Pence added before Hayner could retort. "This place is as much anyone's as it is ours. Even if the place is scattered with our stuff."

"The same thing applies to them then!" Hayner shouted. "They've got no right to make this place theirs!"

Denzel got up from the couch and glared sharply at Hayner. "This is too our place! My mom says that all the things that have my name on it are mine!"

"Well, my mom says that you should check with everyone before you put your name on anything!"

"This is our secret spot!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

The others, especially the older bunch, couldn't help but remain speechless. It was amazing, yet at the same time depressing, the way the two were arguing. It was as if the had the same mental maturity, and since it was Hayner, this was probably the case.

Olette sighed, reached out and patted Denzel's head gently. "Okay, calm down, both of you."

Denzel pushed her hand away. He still had no intention of giving up his spot so he didn't want to be friendly with these people. Olette simply smiled. She stood up and hugged the young boy from behind. He froze for a split second, but after getting over his initial shock, he desperately tried to wriggle out of Olette's grasp. It was futile, since she held him in an embrace firm enough to keep him still, yet somehow gentle enough to be comfortable.

It was surprisingly effective. After his initial stuggles, he eventually calmed down from outright rebellious to silent sulking, allowing Olette to set him back on the sofa.

"W-What the heck was that about?"

Olette raised an eyebrow at Hayner. She wondered if he was getting angry again; his face was getting red. "What was what?"

"The hug!"

"Oh, that? I have a lot of younger cousins and I take care of them every now and then, so I guess I know how to deal with kids."

Roxas smirked. "Maybe you should try that on Hayner sometime, since he acts like one." Hayner shot him a dirty look.

Marlene, who had been quiet the whole time, was now looking at Olette with admiration, her eyes sparkling. "Wow! That's the first time I've seen someone make Denzel stop fighting! You're so cool, um..." Her eyes searched the older girl, looking for something to fill the blank spot in her speech.

Olette smiled at her. "My name's Olette. This is Pence, Roxas," she said, pointing to the respective person, "and the bully sitting in the middle of the floor is Hayner. So you must be Marlene, right?"

"Yeah. And this is my best friend, Denzel!" She nudged her companion, motioning for him to introduce himself. Unfotunately, the boy was still sulking, so he just gave a small shrug to satisfy Marlene. "Denzel..."

"What's wrong?" Pence asked.

Marlene stared at the floor, the sparkle in her eyes now lost. "Denzel's a little angry. He doesn't listen to anyone when he's angry."

Roxas couldn't help himself from chuckling. "I've been thinking for a while now; he's just like a mini-Hayner."

"What? He's nothing like me!" Hayner shouted.

"Yeah!" Denzel agreed, breaking his silent protest. "I'm a lot cooler than him!"

"You little twerp! I'm gonna--"

"Down, Hayner," Olette ordered.

"But Olette--"

"Down." Hayner would have usually ignored such orders. He was, after all, the leader of the gang and therefore should be able to do whatever he wanted regardless of what the others said. But there was something intimidating about they aura that Olette was emitting right now. Something told him he would definitely regret arguing with Olette this time around.

So, left with no other option, he grudgingly crossed his arms and sat still.

Marlene clapped her hands with enthusiasm. "Wow! You did it again! That's amazing! You're just like a mom!"

"A... mom?" Olette looked at her curiously.

"Yeah! I can feel it! You feel like a mom!"

Olette smiled at the convinced look on her face. Though she had always thought of herself as the caretaker of their little gang, she had never really seen it as a motherly position.

"Maybe you're right," she said.

Roxas and Pence groaned. This wasn't good. Now that she had upgraded her position from caretaker to mother, she was definitely going to be a lot tougher on them. Roxas let out a sigh and stepped forward. It was time to do some damage control. He stood next to Hayner who was still seated on the floor.

"Well, how about this guy?" Marlene looked at him quizically. "I mean, if Olette's a mom, then what's this guy?"

Marlene turned her attention to Hayner and stared hard. Then she closed her eyes, concentrating on the feeling he gave her and what that feeling was.

She opened her eyes. It was as if she almost had the answer but was still lacking a crucial detail. She stood up and went over to Hayner, peering into his face, their noses almost touching. Her face was a little red.

"W-What?"

"U-Um, please don't move." She didn't explain further. She simply turned around and sat down, right on his crossed legs. She shifted around a bit, and then sighed contentedly. Judging by the smile on her face, she looked really comfortable sitting there.

She leaned back against Hayner and looked up at him. "You feel like a dad," she said, smiling.

Hayner blushed and turned his head away. The way she said so honestly and innocently was way too much for him, that he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

A click of a shutter was heard, and everyone turned to see Pence holding his camera, grinning triumphantly. Hayner, glad that there was something to shift the direction of attention, gave Marlene a light push. "Okay, I'm done. It's his turn now."

Marlene obediently got off and approached Pence. Roxas, on the other hand crouched down next to his best friend; a smirk was on his face. "So, still feel like kicking the kids out?"

Hayner fumed. "Fine, the girl's okay. But I've still got issues with that brat she has for a friend." He glared at Denzel who was watching Marlene with a gentle look in his eyes. When he saw Hayner, he returned the glare.

"I'm pretty sure they come in a package," Roxas said. "Stop being stubborn and make nice."

"You're really going out of your way to side with them huh?"

Roxas shrugged. "It's more like I want to make interesting stuff happen. Like how you're now a dad as Olette is a mom."

His face flushed red. "Shut up."

Roxas felt a stare directed at him. He turned and saw Marlene looking intently at him.

"Hey, what's up?"

"It's your turn now," Pence said. "Apparently, I'm an uncle. She even explained that I'm the fun kind, who visits almost everyday and has an occasional souvenier."

"Oh..." Now that it was his turn, Roxas wasn't exactly sure what to do. He just stood there, waiting for Marlene to do something. But then the only thing she did was tilt her head in confusion. "Something wrong?"

She frowned. "Hm... can't tell..."

She started circling him, appraising him from every angle. Still, the frown never left her face.

"It's okay if you can't tell," Roxas said, a hint of worry in his voice. He didn't want her to take this too seriously.

She shook her head. "That's not it... I know, but I don't know what to call it."

"Oh, is that it?" His voice lightened as he said this. He had been a little anxious about Marlene's response, worried that he didn't give off a familial vibe. He turned to Denzel, who was still quiet. If he was right about him being like Hayner, he should be hating his current situation of self-imposed silence.

"What do you think, Denzel? You know Marlene better than anyone so I'm sure you can tell us what she thinks."

At first, it looked like he was about to flat out refuse, but before he could voice his disagreement, he glanced at Marlene. It looked like she was waiting on him too. He sighed and changed his mind midway.

"Mom."

"...Huh?" Roxas wasn't exactly sure if he heard it right. "Come again?"

"You feel like a mom."

Roxas let out an awkward laugh, the kind when you're not sure if the other person is being serious or not. Still, Denzel didn't retract the statement, nor did any of the others join in laughing with him. Add to that the way they were looking at him, as if they were re-analyzing the way they saw him, it made him quite uncomfortable.

"Denzel's right!" Marlene said excitedly. "You do feel like a mom!"

"Y-You guys can't be serious..."

"I have to admit," Olette conceded, "I don't really know why, but you do give off that kind of feeling."

"But you're already the mom!"

"Doesn't mean there can't be two moms," Pence reasoned.

"Oh, come on guys! Back me up here, Hayner!"

Hayner ignored him and sniggered at the thought. "First, bridal trainer Roxas. Now it's mommy Roxas. If this keeps going, people might start thinking--"

WHACK!

"Ow! What the-- I hadn't said anything yet!"

Roxas shook off the slight sting in his knuckles. Hayner had a really hard head, literally. "You're my best friend. I know when I have to shut you up."

The low ring of the clocktower bell resonated throughout Twilight Town. It was the evening bell. Within a few minutes, the twilight that lighted the sky would fade into darkness.

Olette turned to the kids. "It's getting late. Shouldn't you be going home now?"

"It's okay. I'm not afraid when it's dark," Denzel huffed.

"I wanna stay," Marlene begged, tugging lightly on Olette. "We don't really have to go already, do we?"

"B-But..." It was obvious that Olette's maternal instincts were being swayed by Marlene's cuteness. She turned to Hayner. "Hayner! You're the dad! Do something!"

"What do you want me to do? The brat I can throw out, but Marlene..." He made the mistake of making eye contact with the girl, who had switched to full-on cuteness mode. Honestly, who could say no to that face, that puppy dog pout and wide, pleading eyes.

"...Pence, you try."

"Sorry, can't do anything here. I'm the _fun_ uncle, which means I sorta have to be on their side."

Roxas sighed. He really didn't want to do anything, since it would only solidify his position as 'mom'. Still, it really was getting late, and he would feel really uncomfortable having those two out after dark. He went over to his bag, getting ready to bring out his secret weapon.

"I have ice cream."

Almost instantly, the two kids were clinging onto him, reaching up to grab the popsicles that Roxas was holding up above them.

"You can only get one if you promise to go home right away," he bargained. He saw the beginning of rebellion in their eyes, especially Denzel's so he added, "You can come here and play anytime you like, as long as you always go home before it gets dark."

The two kids smiled. "Okay!"

As soon as he handed the two a popsicle each, they dashed off, as if making sure Roxas wouldn't have a chance to take back the sweets.

"You two better brush your teeth!" he called.

"Okay!"

"Bye-bye!"

The two ran out the gate, the sea-salt ice cream bars already wedged in their mouths. Marlene stopped to wave a final goodbye before catching up with Denzel. Roxas sighed. They were finally gone. Though he didn't hate kids, he just didn't have the kind of energy needed to keep up with them. He pulled out another popsicle from his bag and pushed the treat into his mouth. He deserved a reward after the way he handled that situation.

"Nice kids," Pence said.

Olette nodded, agreeing. "Yeah. I hope they come by again soon."

"The girl's okay, I guess. And if the brat behaves himself, I'll let him stay."

Roxas was staring at something in the corner. It looked like Denzel had left a little something before he left. He smirked, subtly nudging a crate to cover the words 'Hayner is a stoopid bully' that was written on the wall.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's really well behaved," he said, a small smile tugging on his lips.

* * *

A/N: Finally done! Sorry about the late update. Not gonna make excuses anymore, it's just the same everytime anyway. Kinda disappointed with this chapter, it got really out of my control, and then I couldn't find a good way to end it. I had to rewrite it a number of times too.

Still now that this is out of the way, I can at least get a fresh start on another chapter. To be honest, this update is pretty much to get rid of this idea, since I can't concentrate doing multiple ideas. Kinda excited to start fresh. Once again, I'll try to update as soon as I can. Please review! Oh, and thanks to Himig (kabayan!) and as always, laugh-out-loud94 for the reviews! I'll do my best for you guys.


	10. Rivals

**Rivals**

A gentle breeze blew across Twilight Town's clocktower, ruffling a redhead's spikes a little. Axel sighed contentedly. It felt really good to be up there on the clocktower, especially since it was another Friday afternoon. That meant it would only be a little while until Roxas and Xion caught up to him. He was quite grateful for Xion's coming to Twilight Town. Before she came along, he would only ever hang out with Roxas when it was just the two of them. But now with Xion competing with Hayner for turns with Roxas, they got to have fun together more often now, not to mention he now had another good friend.

That's why when he heard footsteps coming up from the stairwell behind him, he turned excitedly. "You're here pretty quick this week. Hayner didn't put up much of a fight?"

"Yeah, right. When did Hayner _not_ put up a fight?" a girl's voice answered. Xion finally emerged from the stairwell and stepped out onto the clocktower's ledge, allowing the gentle twilight glow to envelop her. However, there was something Axel noticed immediately. She was alone.

"...No way. You lost??"

She took a seat next to Axel and punched him lightly before responding, "No, he just didn't show up today."

Axel raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? That's kind of weird, considering how the two of you compete for Roxas with so much gusto."

"Yeah, I know," she agreed, nodding. "But Roxas said that it was that time of the month for Hayner, so he wouldn't be showing up. And since Roxas looked pretty worried, I just made him promise to hang out with us some other time."

Axel raised his eyebrows even higher. He dug a finger in his ear to make sure nothing was impeding his hearing. "...Sorry, did I hear you right? Hayner couldn't make it because--"

"--it's his time of the month," she said plainly. She glanced at him and an amused expression appeared on her face. "Yeah, I think I had the same expression. I bet he worded it like that on purpose. He said if we were curious about it we should swing by the Sandlot later."

She held out a hand and Axel automatically passed her a bar of sea-salt ice cream. "Hayner's period, huh?" he chuckled. "I guess we should check it out."

Xion made a face. "Yeah, yeah... just be happy you guys don't get it."

-x-

Of course, what Roxas was referring to was definitely different from what a certain two were thinking right at that moment. He was talking about another event which happened every month, which brought great pain and stress to Hayner, though he usually didn't feel those things until after it happened.

It was why Roxas was now headed toward the Usual Spot. Though he supposed he should be hurrying, he knew that he really wouldn't be able to do anything anyway, so he just walked at his normal pace. He pushed the wire gate open, and saw none other than Hayner, grunting as he did push-ups in the middle of the Usual Spot.

"Hundred twenty-one... hundred twenty-two... hundred twenty-three..."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "You know, just adding a hundred to your count doesn't make it convincing. And I doubt it'll impress Olette."

Hayner raised his head to look at Roxas, making sure he was alone. "Shut up... twenty-four..."

Roxas went over to the sofa and sat on the armrest, watching as Hayner continued his workout. "Maybe you should try adding a more realistic number, like fifty. At least it sounds possible."

Right at that moment, the wire gate creaked open. At the same time, Hayner froze at the peak of one of his push-ups. The new arrival, Pence, just stared at Hayner, who still wasn't moving, then turned to Roxas. "What's going on?"

"His brain is still doing the math," he answered with a smirk.

A look of recognition formed on Pence's face. "Ah, I see... maybe you should stick to adding by hundreds Hayner."

"I'm starting to think that he should just stop adding."

"Nah, it's good practice for him. At least Olette'll be happy about that."

"Then maybe he should just quit this whole thing and do math homework, huh? Not like he has a chance of winning today."

Hayner had finally had enough of the two. He got up and glared at the two, at which they responded with a smug smirk. "Instead of badmouthing me, how about you help me train?"

"That's another thing," Pence said. "You know that by working out this hard, you're just gonna make yourself a training dummy for your fight with Seifer later, right?"

"Emphasis on the dummy," Roxas added. "Considering you haven't learned from last month... and the month before that..."

Hayner just rolled his eyes. He stretched out a bit, feeling the tense pull of strained muscles. He took this as a sign that he was definitely ready for the match. A confident smirk formed on his face.

"Seifer won't know what him," he announced, picking up a Struggle bat and giving it a few swings.

"Probably because nothing _will_ hit him," Roxas said. "Like last month. It was over in what, twenty seconds?"

"If you round up. It was really more like fourteen seconds."

"No, I think you're talking about the month before."

"Quit teasing Hayner you guys." The wire gate swung open once more, and Olette walked in. She gave Roxas and Pence a reprimanding look before taking a seat on the sofa. She took a look at Hayner and sighed.

"Hayner, I told you not to wear yourself out again," she said, looking at how sweaty he was.

"This? It's nothing, just warming up," he answered, trying to pass off the fatigue he was feeling as nonchalantly as possible.

"I think you've overheated already," Roxas said.

"He's right, you're really hot." The three boys stared at Olette. Her eyes widened, realizing what she had just said. "I-I didn't-- not like that! I mean, he is hot, but you know-- temperature-wise. I can feel his body heat all the way over here."

She could feel herself turning red. Trying to divert the conversation elsewhere, she changed the topic, "Anyway, Hayner, won't you reconsider this whole thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, shouldn't you stop duelling Seifer every month? I think the two of you are getting really out of hand."

"She does have a point," Pence said. "Not counting the last two months, you two really went at it for hours. And the only real reason you didn't keep going was because the two of you could barely move anymore."

"No way! I have to put up with that jerk in school, and this is the only time I ever get to give him what he deserves!"

"That, and Hayner won't accept the fact that Seifer won so easily the last few times," Roxas explained. "You're gonna have to ask him when he's on a winning streak to get him to agree."

"And that winning streak starts today! Let's do this!"

With those words, Hayner charged out of the Usual Spot with a struggle bat over his shoulder. The ones left behind let out an exasperated sigh.

"Do you have it Olette?" Pence asked.

"Right here," she answered, pulling a first aid kit from her bag.

"Okay. Let's follow that idiot before he hurts himself too much."

-x-

They were surprised to see that Hayner hadn't run all the way to the Sandlot yet. They found him at the bottom of the stairs, peeking around the corner. And even though they couldn't see it, they knew that he was wearing a confident smirk at that moment.

"What are you doing, Hayner?" Roxas asked.

He turned to them, showing them that smirk as he chuckled. "This is called tactics. I read about a famous swordsman who purposely came late to a duel just to make his opponent angry. And because of that, he was able to beat him much easier."

"Oh, you mean Musashi Miyamoto against Kojiro Sasaki?" Olette asked. "Wow, I wouldn't think you would know such a story."

"I'm more surprised about the fact that he _read_ about it," Roxas commented.

"But do you think that's a good tactic against Seifer? I mean look at him," Pence said, as they all leaned out of the corner to get a better view. Seifer was just standing there with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, almost as if he were meditating. His struggle bat though, was still held in his hand, ready to be used in an instant. And as usual, his faithful followers Fuu, Rai, and Viki were waiting with him.

"Pence is right," Olette said with some concern. "He doesn't seem too distracted."

"And what's worse," Roxas added, "is that it's even backfiring." He looked at Hayner and sighed. Now that he could see that his 'tactics' were having no effect, it was now Hayner who was getting frustrated.

"C'mon! Get angry already!"

Maybe it was an effect of Seifer's meditative position that allowed him to hear Hayner's frustrated hiss from all the way across the Sandlot. But whatever the case, he did hear it. He slowly opened his eyes, looking toward the corner where the gang was still hiding.

"Chickening out already?" he taunted.

"Who's chickening out?!" Hayner retorted, jumping out into the open. Trying to regain at least the atmosphere of superiority, he swaggered over to where Seifer was standing. Roxas, Pence, and Olette also followed Hayner out into the Sandlot and stood on the sidelines.

"You don't stand a chance, Seifer. Not with my superior strategy." The three standing on the sidelines groaned. Leave it to Hayner to flaunt a 'superior strategy' that had already gone down the drain.

"Strategy? Don't make me laugh. The result will be the same as last time." Seifer held his Struggle bat ready, pointing it towards Hayner. "Still, I guess the only way you'd ever have a chance of winning is by using cheap tricks."

Hayner bit back the impulse to lunge at the jerk. He wasn't going to lose to this guy, not even in their traditional pre-duel banter they always had. "Cheap? Hah, don't worry. I only use the classiest tricks there are."

The trio groaned again. "He's even agreeing with Seifer that he needs tricks to win," Roxas groaned.

Pence shrugged. "It's better than the usual stuff he comes up with."

Olette nodded. "That's true. I was half-expecting him to say that he only uses 'expensive' tricks. He at least managed to switch it with classy."

They watched as the two hot blooded idiots, as Roxas liked to refer to them, stepped toward the center of the Sandlot. Hayner stood ready, crouching low and the Sturggle bat held firlmly in his hand. Seifer, on the other hand, just stood there. He didn't shift his position or even hold his Struggle bat properly. This definitely didn't help any for Hayner's disposition.

"What are you playing at?! Get serious already!"

"I don't need to get serious for the likes of you."

While they continued their, pre-fight fight, Roxas nudged Pence with his elbow. "Three ice cream bars on Hayner going down in two minutes."

Pence nodded. "Okay, then I'm betting on one minute."

"Why are you both betting on Hayner losing?" a voice asked. The trio turned to find Xion and Axel approaching the bench they were sitting on.

Roxas grinned, happy to see his friends come. "As his best friend, I wish him the best of luck in winning the match. But as a person looking to win a bet, I have to side with the chances. Besides, I _am_ respecting him this way. I didn't call fifteen seconds, did I?"

"Same here," Pence added.

Olette sighed. Xion passed her a sympathetic glance. It must be tough hanging out with such thoughtless guys.

"You guys already got the good times," Olette grumbled. "Fine, I'll bet on thirty seconds." When she noticed Xion looking at her, she raised her hands defensively. "Sorry, but these guys are really contagious."

Axel shot his hand in the air. "I call one and a half minutes!"

Xion shrugged. "Well, since there's ice cream on the line. I'll bet on forty seconds."

"I can hear you guys, you know!!" Hayner yelled.

"Then be sure to lose at the two minute mark!" Roxas called back.

"No! Wait until a minute!"

"A minute and a half!"

Hayner huffed, getting back into his stance. Seifer was now at least holding his Struggle bat properly, though he was still standing in an idle position. In between them stood Fuu, her hand raised above her head, ready to start the match.

"Ready?" she asked in her monotone voice. She took a moment to make eye contact with both competitors, then brought her hand down in a swift movement.

Hayner charged headfirst toward Seifer at the first instant. Seifer still hadn't moved from his idle stance. All he did was stretch out the Struggle bat in front of him and--

WHAM!

--wait for Hayner to run straight into it, knocking him onto his butt.

Xion honestly didn't know whether she should laugh or sigh. Though Axel had no problem laughing his butt off, seeing Roxas, Pence and Olette let out another big sigh, she couldn't help but ask, "Their fights aren't always like this... are they?"

"It's not normally this bad," Pence said. "But I kinda thought he would do better than this, especially since Roxas and I managed to stop him from wearing himself out like he usually did."

Roxas buried his face in his hands. "Ugh, I knew I should have bet on fifteen seconds."

"Hey! What's with you guys already counting me out?!" Hayner yelled as he got back onto his feet. "I just... slipped up is all!"

"Then quit fooling around and get up," Seifer barked from behind him. It looked like he was starting to get serious, if only to things over with as fast as possible.

"You don't have to tell me twice!!" Hayner roared, lunging at Seifer again. Seifer once again stretched out his Struggle bat in front of him, limiting Hayner's approach. He ducked toward his right and swinging his weapon upwards, managed to deal a glancing blow on his opponent's arm.

But apparently, that was all it was: just a glancing blow. Seifer's eyes narrowed. "Is that all you got?"

Hayner saw him raise his Struggle bat, and the next thing he knew, he was getting hit all over. He could feel the hard wood underneath pressing through the soft blue foam.

He was knocked back down to the ground. He raised his hands defensively, trying to guard himself from any oncoming blows. But they never came. He tentatively opened his eyes. Roxas was standing in front of him, holding his own Struggle bat, blocking Seifer's path.

"I think that's enough," Roxas said.

Hayner patted himself down, making sure that he wasn't in any critical condition. Seeing that he was fine except for a few bruises that were starting to form, he narrowed his eyes at Roxas' back. "If you're going to step in, couldn't you do it before I get beat up?"

"If I did that, you'd whine and complain about me spoiling your fight. And didn't I bet on you lasting two minutes?"

Meanwhile, Seifer looked like he was getting more fired up. An excited smirk appeared on his face. "So you've finally decided to settle this."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Will you ever stop?? I'm just interested in being able to recognize my friend's face in the next few days."

A puzzled expression appeared on Xion's face. "What are those two talking about?"

A tired smile appeared on Olette's face. "Well, you know how Hayner sees Seifer as his rival, right?" Xion nodded. "The thing is, Seifer doesn't see it the same way. He normally wouldn't agree to something like a monthly duel with Hayner."

"On the other hand," Pence continued, "ever since Seifer lost to Roxas in the last Struggle tournament, he's been challenging Roxas to fight every time they meet. Which Roxas usually manages to avoid."

"Oh, I get it," Xion said, nodding. "So Hayner sees Seifer as his rival, and Seifer sees Roxas as his, but not vice versa."

"That's right. So Seifer figured if he indulged Hayner, he'd eventually get a chance to fight Roxas, like right now," Olette said, nodding to the scene in front of them where Roxas was at the moment, dodging and blocking blows from Seifer.

"C'mon, Roxas," Axel called. He was starting to get bored watch his blonde friend weave between his oppnent's attacks. "Just beat him up so we can get this over with!"

"Nah, he can't do that," Olette explained. "Beating Seifer now would only make him come after him more."

"So why doesn't he just take a dive?" Xion asked.

"Because Roxas is stubborn that way," Hayner answered, as he limped back towards the group. "He doesn't want to get chased after, but his pride won't allow him to lose on purpose."

"Coming back already, huh?" Pence said with a wry smile.

"You know, you could try to back Roxas up," Olette suggested.

"Yeah," Xion agreed. "What else are you going to use this thing for?" she asked, taking the Struggle club from Hayner.

Roxas continued to dodge the Seifer's oncoming blows, only going as far as to use the Struggle bat to defend himself. He was pretty much stuck the way things were at the moment. If he fought back and won, Seifer would continue to hound him. Nor did he want to let himself lose, and he wasn't about to run away from a fight that had already begun. So what else could he do?

He ducked under another one of Seifer's swings, stumbling towards the sidelines. Seifer really wasn't holding anything back now, and was just swinging wildly, trying to land a hit. Roxas raised his Struggle club to defend himself but was still sent rolling across the Sandlot. A split second later, Seifer was dashing toward him, taking advantage of the moment, swinging the club down with a--

WHACK!!

-x-

"You think Seifer's gonna be okay?" Pence asked. The group was back at the Usual Spot, along with Axel and Xion. The topic of the discussion was of course, none other than the results of the fight.

"He's got a head as thick as Hayner's so he should be fine," Roxas said. "Besides, Olette gave him first aid before Fuu and Rai dragged him off."

Xion groaned. "I hope you're right. I didn't mean to hit him so hard."

"Are you kidding me?" Hayner asked incredulously. A smile crept onto his face. "That was one of the best things I've ever seen! Roxas down on the ground, Seifer ready to deal the finishing blow, and then WHAM! Xion jumps in and knocks him across the Sandlot."

"I couldn't help it!" she whined. "They were only a few feet in front of us, and Roxas was completely defenseless, and I even had a Struggle club. It was instinct!" Her eyes widened, as if suddenly realizing something. She narrowed her eyes at Roxas. "You planned that, didn't you?"

Roxas grinned sheepishly, putting his hands together in apology. "Sorry Xion, but it was the only thing I could think of. This way, Hayner's not too badly hurt, I got out of the fight, and I don't think Seifer's pride would allow himself to challenge a girl, so he won't come after you. So we all win!"

Xion smiled gently. She supposed she had no argument to that. Seeing all these smiling faces around her, this was what was important. That in the end, they were all happy.

"Except for Seifer," Axel noted with a smirk.

Roxas shrugged. "No plan is perfect."

* * *

A/N: School killed me. It's not really a valid excuse for this chapter to be late, but still, its what happened. Anyway, it's summer vacation for most people. Unfortunately, I am not one of these people, since I'm taking summer classes. Still, I'll make a renewed effort to try and update at least every two weeks.

Not sure if it was prudent for me to joke about a girl's period in the first part, being a guy and all, so I'm sorry if offends a few people. It kinda got stuck in my head since its a little based on me (I won't elaborate). I'm pretty happy with this chapter, or at least the idea. It feels a little off in some parts, especially in the banter between Hayner and Seifer. Ending it was pretty hard too. But still, I'm pretty happy about it. Tell me what you guys think! Please review!


	11. Saturday Mayhem

**Saturday Mayhem**

"Do you have someone you like?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow at the question. He was just sitting (or to be more specific, sleeping) peacefully in his literature class when the teacher suddenly pops such a personal question to the entire class. The sudden change in atmosphere was enough to rouse him out of his nap. Honestly, since when was it a teacher's business to know her student's personal relationships?

A student raised his hand tentatively. "Um, Ms. Trepe... what does this-"

"What does this have to do with your studies you say? Not much. But a large amount of today's literature was written with a romantic theme, which makes it relevant to our class."

She turned to the blackboard and drew a piece of white chalk against its surface. "Here is your assignment for this weekend, due at the start of class on Monday." A number of groans were heard, particularly from the male protion fo the class. Ms. Trepe narrowed her eyes and placed a hand to her belt, where her whip hang loosely, ready to be pulled out at a second's notice. The class went dead silent immediately. Roxas vaguely wondered if the whip was legal.

"At least one whole page long. And Vaan," she continued, turning to a sandy-haired boy in the front, "if you use a font size bigger than 12, you'll get a week's detention."

At that moment, the bell rang. As Ms. Trepe quickly ushered the students out of the classroom, Roxas absentmindedly packed his things. He wasn't really sure how to react to that kind of assignment. He sighed and hoisted his backpack over his shoulder. He was going to hate this assignment. That was when he bumped into someone on the way out of class.

"Oh, hi Roxas. You have Ms. Trepe for Literature too?"

Roxas changed his mind. This just might be one of the best assignment of his life.

-x-

It was Saturday, meaning it was a day of mayhem for the gang. At least that was what normally happened, that by the end of the day they would have broken something: a window, a few rules, maybe a few spirits, more recently a number of appetites. Something just had to be broken.

Hayner paced around the Usual Spot impatiently. Olette was obviously the first to arrive that morning. Pence came about five minutes before the agreed time. Hayner was tolerably late. And Roxas was still nowhere to be found. It was ironic that their punctuality was inversely proportional to their patience.

"Maybe he's still sleeping?" Olette suggested. "Naminé doesn't wake him up on the weekends."

Pence nodded. "That's true. Maybe we should head over to his place-"

At that moment, Roxas walked into the Usual Spot. Olette and Pence immediately noticed that there was something different about him. They couldn't exactly pinpoint what; he was wearing his usual clothes and everything, but it had something to do with the aura he was emitting. He looked, in Olette's opinion, as if he were sparkling. Now that she thought about it, that was the way the general female population usually described him, as if he bathed in glitter instead of water.

"Finally!" Hayner shouted upon seeing him. "Come on, we're already late as it is."

Hayner made a motion for everyone to follow, but Roxas stayed put. "Sorry guys, but something's come up. My mom's making me go with her to a relative's house, so I can't go with you."

"Oh, is that all?" Hayner said. "Sure, go ahead. Next time, tell us ahead of time, okay?"

Roxas raised his eyebrows at Hayner. That went over a little too well. He was expecting some kind of resistance, particularly from Hayner, but he was the first to let him go. Then again, who was he to argue with results? If he could go without having to fight it out with Hayner, it was better for him.

"...Okay then... I'll be going ahead," Roxas spared them one last suspicious glance before leaving.

Hayner counted five mississippis to make sure he was out of earshot before turning to the other two. "Change of plans. We're following Roxas."

Olette and Pence smiled weakly. "So you didn't buy it?" Olette asked.

"'Course not. Roxas' mom never takes him along for those kinds of things. And there was something weird about him, you know?"

Pence nodded in agreement. "Yeah. So I'm game for following Roxas around."

"I guess I'm curious as well," Olette said. She went over to the wire gate and stuck her head out, checking for any signs of their blonde friend. "But how do we follow him now that he's already left?"

After a quick detour to Roxas' house, they caught his mom really about to leave for a relative's house. However, she wasn't taking Roxas along with him. She had said that Roxas had woken up uncharacteristically early on his own, and had left saying that he was going to be out all day. After a few calls to one of Pence's many contacts, they found themselves at the mall. But not before another small detour.

"You look stupid," Olette said blandly.

"Do not!" Hayner retaliated. He had insisted before continuing their pursuit of Roxas, they should be well prepared. His preparation consisted of a change of wardrobe, so that he was now wearing a black hooded jacket, black sweatpants, and shades. "It's you guys who are going to get caught right away!"

"Unlike you, we look like regular shoppers," Olette replied. She had agreed to a disguise, but was obviously not stupid enough to take it as far as Hayner. She had tied her hair up into a ponytail and was wearing a white buttoned shirt and jeans.

"To be honest, Hayner, you look like you're about to mug someone," Pence added. He had simply thrown on a green zipped-up sweatshirt and a matching cap to hide his distinctive hair. "I think the guards have had their eye on you since we came in."

Hayner ignored the coment, remembering the reason they were there. He eyed the crowd, trying to find a head of spiky blonde hair. "Are you sure he's here?"

"I'm pretty sure," Pence said, nodding. "I have a... contact, you could say. And he's got a pretty good network. He said Roxas was seen around here."

Olette raised her eyebrows. "A contact?"

Pence shifted uncomfortably. "Well, sort of. He doesn't like to be known, due to certain... legal issues."

"What, is he some sort of hacker or something?" Hayner asked.

"Anyway! We should start looking for Roxas," he said, changing the subject. "Where do you think he is?"

Hayner and Olette gave Pence a look, but they supposed they could let it slide. After all, what was the worst trouble that Pence could get into?

"Okaaay... we should probably check the stores he usually goes to, like the skateboard shop. Let's-"

Something suddenly pulled at Hayner's collar, jerking him out of the open and into one of the mall's secluded corners. At the same time, a just as persuasive force pushed Olette and Pence in the same direction. Hayner rounded on his assailant, ready to fight him off but was met with accusing eyes. Deep blue accusing eyes.

"Xion?"

Said girl finally let go of Hayner, but her accusing expression was still there on her face. "Before anything else, you look stupid. With the attention you attract, it didn't take long to recognize who you were."

Olette gave Hayner a look. _I told you so._

"And second: You just couldn't give Roxas a break could you?"

To her side, Axel, the one who had pulled Pence and Olette over, tried to grab her attention. "Xion-"

"I know he's your best friend and all but you should respect each other's privacy!"

"Xion-"

"Just because he cancelled his plans with you for today so he can go-"

At this point, Axel reached out and gave her a light smack upside the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I don't think they know yet."

Her eyes widened. She turned back Hayner. "What? You guys don't know?"

An irritated looked appeared on Hayner's face. "Don't know _what_?

Xion backed a step, raising her hands as if to undo everything she had said. "U-um, on second thought, please forget everything I just said." She quickly turned on her heel and was about to run off when Hayner returned the favor and pulled her back by the collar.

"You're not going anywhere," he said. "What is Roxas doing that we don't know about?"

"A-Axel?"

The redhead shrugged. "Don't look at me. I'm not the one with the loose mouth." He glanced to one end of the mall. "And even if you don't tell them, they'll see soon enough."

Hayner, Pence and Olette followed Axel's line of vision toward a small coffee shop. It looked normal enough, until Roxas walked out of the store. And he wasn't alone.

"Naminé?" Hayner gaped at the scene. "Roxas... is on a date?"

Olette and Pence stared alongside him. "That would explain a lot," she said. "Naminé really is the only person ever to get Roxas to wake up properly."

Pence turned to Xion and Axel. "And you guys are here because...?"

"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss this for the world," Axel said, a playful smirk on his face. "Actually, Mr. Popularity blabbed to Xion over here about the date. He mentioned to keep quiet about it too, but this girl's no good at keeping secrets."

"You were blackmailing me!" Xion yelled, her face red.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Anyway, after hearing about that, how could I not come here? And even though she was against it at the start, Ms. Nosy here couldn't stop being curious about how the date would play out. You should have seen her earlier, hissing under her breath: _That's when you should compliment her Roxas,_ _Hold the door open for her, _and _Carry her like a princess!_"

"T-That's not true!" she argued. "I came because I was sure that Hayner was going to spoil Roxas' date!" she said indignantly.

"What? I wouldn't do that!" A few stares were pointed at him. "Well, I wouldn't do it intentionally at least." They still stared. "Fine! I wouldn't do it with _ill _intentions! I might do it for fun, depending on my mood."

"And I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen!" Xion announced, crossing her arms.

"By taking them out of the mall and away from Roxas?" Axel prompted.

"That's right!"

"Have fun then. I'm staying here and watching Roxas," Axel said, turning his gaze back to the target.

"Axel! I thought we were in this together!"

"Oh, come on Xion," Hayner said, slinging an arm around her shoulders, making her crouch down with him in a conspiratorial way. "You know you're curious. Besides, you can keep an eye on us while watching Roxas, can't you? Kill two birds with one stone."

She stayed silent a moment, her eyes glancing to the couple that was walking not too far away from them. "...Okay, fine. But we stay as far away as possible from them."

"Yes, ma'am!" Hayner answered with a mock salute.

"So what do we do now?" Pence asked. "It looks like they're heading toward the theater already."

Hayner craned his neck around the corner to get a good view of the two. "Do you guys know what they're watching?"

Xion nodded. "Eternal Love."

Axel and Hayner both shuddered at the title. "Ugh, of all movies, a chick flick?" Hayner grumbled.

"I know. Can't believe Roxas actually agreed to that. He can't stand the stuff," Axel said. "Even I stay away from it. I mean, sure, romance flicks are a good way to win the ladies over, but at least choose a comedy."

"Hey! I for one actually enjoy those kinds of movies!" Olette argued. "And I think it's very sweet of Roxas to put his personal tastes aside for his date."

Hayner turned to look back at the couple. They really did look like they were on a date, chatting amiably as Naminé handed over the tickets. They even only had one bucket of popcorn to share. Roxas was really making some progress. Hayner grumbled at the thought.

"No use complaining about it now. A big group would attract too much attention, so we should probably grab some tickets and split up into smaller groups."

After a chorus of assent from everyone, Hayner held back his smile. Roxas wasn't the only on who's going to make progress today.

-x-

"How the heck did it end up like this?"

Hayner groaned in his theater seat way in the back. Axel responded with his own groan in the seat next to him.

"How the hell should I know? He leaned back into his seat and sighed. "All I needed was two seconds to find a date. Two seconds! But you just had to insist we group up then and there. Excited much?"

"Shut up." He took a look around them, happy that they were in the most secluded corner. Then again, that may implicate something else. "God, we look so gay right now."

Axel straightened in his seat. "Groupings aside, we're in a pretty good spot over here. We can see everyone."

"You mean _you_ can. I'm not as freakishly tall as you. How are the other three doing?"

"They actually look excited about the movie. Or at least the girls do, and your friend Pence isn't as opposed as we are to chick flicks."

"And the target?"

"Hang on," Axel said, craning his neck even farther up. "Yep, they look pretty couple-ish from here, leaning toward each other and whispering together."

"Good for him," Hayner huffed. This was just great. He hadn't managed to pair up with Olette, he was stuck in a chick flick with a guy, _and _he didn't have a decent view of the blonde couple. The overhead lights finally dimmed and the start of movie trailers appeared on the screen.

"These two hours are going to kill me."

-x-

Thirty minutes into the movie, irritation was building up in certain people. But it wasn't in the certain people that was expected.

_"You had me at my best. She had me at my worst," the male lead said tearfully. "I'm sorry..."_

"GAHAHAHAHA! Are you kidding me?" a boisterous voice laughed. "What kind of sappy idiot actually says that?"

"HAHAHAHAHA! I'm seriously gonna take note of this stuff and test it out!"

Apparently, Hayner and Axel were enjoying the movie a lot more than they had expected, but clearly not for the right reasons. On the other hand, they were on the receiving end of quite a number of glares. It was a good thing they were seated a good distance away from Roxas and Naminé or their cover would have been blown a long time ago.

_"Don't do this," the female lead pleaded. "Don't let it end."_

_The male lead turned his back to her. He glanced back at her one last time. "I said I'd love you to the day I died. And I already have. The me you once knew died on that day..."_

Another round of unrestrained laughter erupted from the back. Couples in their vicinity got up, threw one last vicious glance in their direction, and moved toward the front. A certain trio sank lower and lower into their seats the more commotion the duo at the back caused.

"Damn, I can't breathe," Hayner wheezed. "Who knew chick flicks could be so much fun?"

"Yeah," Axel agreed, rubbing his aching sides. "This kind of thing should be illegal."

A hand clamped down hard on Axel's shoulder from behind. He looked up to find two men in uniform, and judging from their faces, they weren't in the same good mood as he was.

"Then again... maybe it is."

-x-

Nearly an hour later, Hayner and Axel staggered out of the mall's security room. Other than the obvious scandalizing of the movie and its viewers, they had encountered a few more problems.

"Why the heck did you bring your lighter with you?"

"Hey, the lighter in itself is basically harmless. It's your fault for answering why I had one with: 'Oh, he's a pyromaniac'! And don't forget that you look like you're gonna rob the place!"

"Well, you were the one who completely blew it and said that we were following a couple into that movie!"

"I said we were following our friends, which makes a total difference!"

Suddenly, a hand reached out to Hayner's ear and twisted it painfully. And before Axel could respond by laughing at his companion's predicament, a decent punch made contact with his gut.

"Owowow! Olette, my ear!"

"Oh, be quiet," she said with an icy voice. "You hardly ever use it anyway. I might say the same for the thing between your ears."

"Ungh... Xion, I'd have preferred the same treatment as Hayner."

"You're too tall. And I think I punch a lot better than I pinch."

Pence couldn't help but sigh at the scene. Why were the girls he knew so... _dominant_?

"I can't believe you!" Olette screeched. "Do you know how much trouble you made at the theater?"

"To be honest, I think we made things a lot more fu- owowowow!"

"And thanks to that," Xion added, "we had to stop following Roxas to come and find you!"

"Don't worry, I'm right over here."

The group froze at the voice. They turned slowly and found the blonde couple watching them. Naminé had an expression of mild interest, while Roxas on the other hand... while he was wearing a smile, it was clearly for Naminé's sake. It was amazing how the deep blue of Roxas' eyes could look like a blazing furnace.

Roxas turned to look at Hayner's attire. "You look stupid."

"Why is everyone saying that? I keep telling everyone that it's the appropriate attire for what we're doing!"

"Oh, that's right," he said, his voice still very pleasant. He still scared the heck out everyone though. "What _were_ you doing? Xion?"

Xion gave an involuntary shiver. Roxas was really scary when he got angry, no matter how well you knew him. She bowed her head. "I-I'm sorry."

Roxas sighed, letting his frustration out in that breath. The 'stalker group' did the same, breathing a sigh of relief. They hadn't expected to get off so easily, though they suspected Naminé's prescence had a lot to do with them getting away unscathed.

"I guess it couldn't be helped. You were up against these guys after all," he said, pointing one last glare toward Axel and Hayner in particular. "Thanks for trying anyway."

Naminé glanced at Roxas curiously. "What's going on?"

"Nah, it's nothing," he answered with a tired smile. "These guys just have a tendency to get a bit nosy whenever I do something I don't completely explain."

"Huh? You didn't tell them we had to watch that movie for our assignment?"

Hayner's expression went blank at what he heard. "...Assignment?"

Roxas gave him an exasperated look. "Yes, Hayner, an assignment. Naminé and I have Ms. Trepe for our literature class and we were assigned to watch a movie. We decided to go and watch together."

"Mostly because it was too embarrassing for Roxas to go alone," Naminé giggled.

"That's because it is," he said, smiling sheepishly. The observing group rolled their eyes. If it had been any of them that had made that comment, Roxas wouldn't hesitate to snap at them, maybe a punch depending on gender.

"So you're not on a date?" Hayner clarified.

Both their faces flushed crimson. "Nononono!" Naminé objected. "Of course we're not on a date! I mean... me... and Roxas..." She trailed off, her blush growing deeper.

Roxas nodded to support Naminé's statement, but his own blush practically said that he had been secretly viewing this assignment of theirs as a date, or at least a step toward the path to asking her out on an actual date. He also couldn't hide his disappointment at Naminé's outburst. So she didn't see him as dating material?

Meanwhile, Hayner rounded on Xion. "I thought you said they were on a date?"

Xion threw him an irritated look. "He was the one that told me!"

"I only said we were going to the mall to watch a movie together," Roxas corrected.

"It sounded like a date to-" Xion paused mid-sentence, taking a closer look at Roxas' face. "Did something happen?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Olette also took a closer look at Roxas' face. "Your eyes are a little red. Actually, so are yours Naminé..."

Naminé smiled. "Because it was a really good movie. I couldn't help myself at the ending."

"I know!" Olette agreed excitedly. "Xion and I couldn't help but cry at the final scene."

"Yeah, Roxas and I felt the same way!" she responded with equal enthusiasm.

As soon as the words left her mouth, all eyes darted to Roxas, who suddenly discovered the mall's ceiling to be very interesting. Hayner and Axel immediately appeared at Roxas' sides, both of them slinging an arm around his neck, an evil grin on their faces.

"What's this about, Roxas?" Hayner asked, a glint in his hazel eyes. "I thought you hated chick flicks?"

"I couldn't see you too well from where we were sitting, but I guess you were enjoying the movie more than you let on, huh?" Axel said.

Roxas kept his face straight, though the red in his face deepened. "I think I liked it better when you two disagreed with each other."

"So tell us, Roxas," Axel continued. "What was your favorite scene? What were your feelings at that moment when you couldn't help but cry?"

"Stop teasing, Axel," Xion warned.

"We're not teasing," Hayner justified. "We're helping him sort out his thoughts for his assignment. Right, Roxas?"

Both boys could feel Roxas tensing up, but they knew that they could still push it a bit more. He would have normally hit them by now, but a certain blonde's presence changed a lot of things about Roxas.

Meanwhile, Naminé smiled at the boys. "You're so lucky Roxas. You have such fun friends."

Roxas managed a smile. "I guess 'fun' would be one way to put it."

A light tone could suddenly be heard from Naminé's purse. She reached in, pulled out her ringing cellphone and checked the screen. "It's my mom. She's asking me to go shopping with her over at Market Street. Guess this means I'll be going ahead of you."

"Why don't I walk you there?" Roxas offered, shrugging the two boys off his shoulders.

"No, it's fine," she answered with a sweet smile. "Besides, I think your friends want to monopolize you for the rest of the day."

"You're my friend too," he persisted. "You can monopolize me, if you want."

Naminé blushed a little at his words. "I think I've done enough of that for today." She took a few steps back, waving goodbye to them. "But I'll be sure to remember you said that," she said with a small smile. She turned and walked away, heading towards the exit.

Hayner and Axel once again had their arms slung around Roxas shoulders, viewing the entire scene with interest. "Not bad, Roxas," Axel commented. "Smooth and natural, but it still gives a clear vibe showing your affection."

"Yeah, that was pretty good," Hayner agreed. "Must be the effect of watching chick flicks. Maybe I should watch a few myself."

"I know what you mean," Axel continued. "I can sweet talk a girl okay, but there was just this aura from Roxas, you know? Makes that line of his a hundred times more effective. He must really like chick flicks."

In a flash, the two suddenly found themselves in a headlock. "It's pretty brave of you guys to continue this conversation right next to me," he said. Though he was still smiling, and his voice was still light (Naminé's effects apparently still hadn't worn off yet) enough of his intention came through, draining the color from the boy's faces.

"R-Roxas, l-let's just take a second to calm down, huh?"

"Y-yeah, he's right buddy. What if Naminé comes back and-"

CRACK!

-x-

The evening bell had rung, the twilit sky was slowly turning dark. Roxas and the others had just separated from Xion and Axel, already headed back home. Their walk back was hardly a silent one due to Hayner's groaning.

"Would you stop that whining?" Roxas snapped. "I didn't knock your heads together too hard."

"That's because you don't know your inhuman strength that activates whenever you're punishing someone," Hayner retorted. "I'm starting to think you're S."

Roxas was sorely tempted to punch him, but since that would only prove his point, he decided to hold back for now. But even as he did so, Hayner continued to grumble and whine like a little kid. It was tolerable for the first few moments, but as the minutes passed by, Roxas started losing his patience. And when he had finally had enough, he turned to the other three.

"Alright, I'm sorry."

Hayner instantly stopped his grumbling and shot a cocky smirk at him. "And what are you exactly sorry for?"

"Oh, come on! Do I have to say it? I said sorry already!"

"Yes, you do. Even Olette and Pence are waiting for it," he answered, guesturing to their friends' expectant faces.

Roxas heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry for not telling you that I had made plans to go on a movie with Naminé, and I'm sorry for lying about where I was going today..."

"And?" Hayner prompted, pointing at the lump on his head.

"Oh, that. Nah, you had that coming, so I'm not sorry about that."

Hayner rolled his eyes. "Fine, I guess that's good enough."

"Incidentally, how come you told Xion about it?" Pence asked. "I'd understand you not telling anyone at all, since you're normally shy about these things, but she knew about it. How come?"

Roxas suddenly blushed a deep crimson color and quickly averted his eyes. "W-well... t-that's because..."

"Just spit it out already," Hayner said. "I don't think it's gonna be any worse than finding about you liking chick flicks."

Roxas shot a glare at him before continuing. "It's because... right after she agreed to go with me..." He took in another deep breath, turning his head away slightly to hide the deepening blush, "I was just so happy... that I couldn't help but tell someone about it..."

A few moments passed by in silence, a dumbstruck expression on the faces of the three. The camera in Pence's hands suddenly flashed in Roxas direction, jolting them back into reality.

Hayner and Olette immediately crowded Pence. "Did you get it? Did you get it?" she asked hurriedly.

"Hang on, I'm checking!"

"Let me see! Let me see!"

Through Hayner and Olette's pushing and crowding, Pence finally managed to display the picture on the camera's small screen, showing a perfectly captured image of Roxas' expression. In unison, they suddenly broke into a fit of suppressed laughter.

"Ugh, this exactly why I didn't want to talk about it!" Roxas said, fuming.

"N-No, Roxas," Olette said between giggles. "We're not really laughing at you."

"Speak for yourself; I'm laughing at him." Hayner's comment was given a quick response in the form of a punch from Roxas.

"It's just, the you right now is so different from how we know you," Pence said. "We've _never _seen you so..." He paused, trying to search for a good enough word.

"Sappy," Hayner supplied. He ducked to dodge another punch from Roxas.

"Let's just say emotional," Pence said, settling things.

"Okay, fine," Roxas said, shrugging. "Then what's so funny about me getting emotional?"

Olette smiled sweetly. "We're not laughing because it's funny Roxas. We're laughing because we're happy."

Seeing Roxas' confused expression, Pence explained, "We've always kinda felt you were always holding back on us. Sure, you can be laid back and have fun when you're with the three of us, but you never really let loose."

Olette nodded. "Whether you're fooling around or angry, you're always in control of what you do. It almost felt like you'd never show any weakness even when you're around us."

"We used to have a plan to get rid of that habit of yours," Hayner commented. "But since Olette wouldn't let me get you drunk, we decided to put up with it and wait for you to do it on your own."

"We're minors, Hayner."

"Anyway, that's why it's so funny to see you being a sappy idiot," he concluded. "Nothing better than to see that stupid control of yours crumble. I mean, seriously, secrets from friends I understand, but what kind of idiot can't trust his friends enough to show them their bad sides?"

Roxas couldn't help but suppress a smile. Honestly, he wondered why they were teasing him about being the sap whey the stuff they were saying was enough to make diabetics go into shock.

The camera flashed again in his direction. He glanced up to find their smirking faces. "You really should make those faces more often," Pence said. "I don't have too many pictures of them."

Roxas smirked back. "Then I guess you guys will have to work harder for them."

"You bet we will!" Hayner said. "Can you even imagine how much munny we'd rake in by selling those photos of Roxas?"

"Not as much as I'd get for selling this photo of you and Axel going into the movies together," Roxas said, raising his cellphone which was displaying that very image.

The sky turned dark. The day was ending. It was a regular mayhem Saturday for the gang; this week's victim: Roxas' cellphone.

* * *

A/N: Ah, finally! This thing has been sitting in my computer forever! Once again, no excuses, or rather, only the usual ones that people get tired of hearing. Not gonna make promises on when the next update anymore, other that it will be as soon as I can make it.

I both hate and love this chapter. Too many reasons for both so not gonna ennumerate them. I'd like to hear your reasons though. So please review!


	12. Parttime Job

**Part-time Job**

The gang was huddled together in the Usual Spot, their faces scrunched up due to the tension in the atmosphere. They were so close. They only needed a little more, just a little more and then they would make the cut. Hayner glanced up at the others, checking if they were ready. The three responded with a stern nod. Holding his breath, Hayner steeled himself.

He turned his wallet over, allowing twenty munny in coins to fall onto the pile that was before them.

Everyone groaned in unison. "What the heck, Hayner? Twenty munny?" Roxas complained.

"Calm down, Roxas," Olette said soothingly. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Honestly, we should have known better than to let Hayner go last."

"Olette's right. Since when has Hayner had more than 50 munny in his wallet?"

"Hey! I _have _had more than 50 munny in my wallet!"

"Correction: Since when has Hayner had more than 50 munny in his wallet that lasted three days," Roxas countered.

Hayner opened his mouth to argue, but a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Hm, this explains why I can never buy that skateboard."

"It also explains why you have to mooch off of us every so often," Roxas added.

"And it also explains why we're going to have to skip the ice cream today," Olette finalized. She raised an eyebrow at their horrified expressions. "What? How else are we supposed to get the ice cream if we don't pay for it?"

"Maybe we could sweet talk the shopkeeper?" Pence suggested. "She's always been nice to us."

"Can't do that," Roxas answered. "Remember? She's got some senior guy working part time on most days."

"Then Olette could sweet talk him." Olette narrowed his eyes at Hayner. He raised his hands. "Kidding, kidding."

"Hayner would've hated seeing Olette flirt with anyone anyway," Roxas mumbled to Pence.

Pence, however, looked thoughtful. "Hm, its not a bad idea."

Olette stared incredulously at Pence. "Pence! Don't tell me you actually want me to flirt with a guy for ice cream!"

"Well, it _is _sea-salt." Another glare. He raised his hands again.

"What? No! Not about the flirting thing," Pence said. "I was just thinking about that senior guy working part time."

"What about him?" Roxas asked.

"Working part time."

"What? It's in the middle of the school year! We have homework and projects! You want to add work to the things I'll never finish?" Hayner complained.

Pence sighed and leaned forward, picking from the munny pile in front of them the amount he had contributed. "Let's face it. We're broke. We barely have any spending money for the weekends anymore, and we can't do any of Hayner's chaotic schemes. Might as well try to earn some money."

Olette contemplated this for a moment and nodded. "I agree, except for the 'Hayner's chaotic schemes' part. That one, I'm sure we all could have a little less of."

"Hey! My plans are awesome. The whole world just doesn't see it the way I do!"

"And the world is safer that way," Roxas quipped. "I guess it's settled then. We'll look for part time jobs enough to solve our money problem, but not enough to fund Hayner's ideas."

Hayner groaned. "You guys are ganging up on me way too much these days. Fine, we'll _look_ for part time jobs. I won't make any promises that I'll actually do any work though."

"Good enough," Pence said. "We'll just get Olette to nag you like she always does."

"I do not nag!"

-x-

The gang found themselves in front of the bulletin board over at Market Street, scanning the posted ads for suitable jobs. Though a relatively simple task, the participants did not make it easy.

"Why are we looking here at Market Street?" Hayner complained. "The jobs over at Tram Common pay better."

"Because you said you didn't want to add too much work to your studies," Olette explained. "The jobs posted here are usually the easier ones."

Hayner groaned. "Why don't we look for an easy job that pays good?"

Roxas snorted. "Yeah, right. Let's just bend the whole world to your convenience Hayner."

"Well, it should."

Pence kept on scanning the different ads. "Are we looking for a job for all of us? Or are we looking for separate jobs for each of us?"

"That depends," Roxas said. "Are we pooling our earnings together or are we just looking to earn our own pocket money?"

"A bit of both to be fair," Olette answered. "Say, a quarter goes to the stuff we do when we hang out and the rest goes to our own pockets."

Roxas nodded. "Then as long as I don't get paired up with Hayner, I'm good."

"What? C'mon, Roxas! The only way we can survive this dull job is by working together!"

Roxas rolled his eyes at Hayner. "First off, you haven't even picked a job, so don't call it dull yet. Second, I actually plan on earning some money this time around. You remember what happened when we worked together at the mall's foodcourt?"

Hayner opened his mouth to argue, but stopped midway, remembering the mayhem. "Oh, yeah..." A smirk appeared on his face. "That was fun."

"But we didn't get paid." He allowed himself a smirk in response though. "But yeah, it was fun."

Olette let out an exasperated sigh. "I wouldn't call a five hour mall-wide foodfight something fun."

"That's because you were hit by that carton of sour milk in the first few minutes and had to leave the battlefield," Hayner explained. "You regret that you weren't able to join in the whole five hours of edible fury."

"Right," Olette deadpanned. She turned to Pence, who was still scanning the posted ads. "You see anything that suits you?"

"Not really. But this," he said, reaching out and pulling down an ad and handing it over to her, "should suit you pretty good. Roxas is too well rounded, and Hayner's too random, so I can't really pick something out for them."

Roxas looked over Olette's shoulder to see the ad in her hands. "Helper at the daycare center, huh? I guess you are pretty good with kids."

She smirked. "Of course I am, considering the three kids I have to look out for on a regular basis."

Roxas scanned the bulletin board. "Hm, I guess I'll try this one then," he said pulling one down.

Pence took a peek at the ad. "Package delivery?" He gave a curious look to the boy. "Are you sure? It doesn't look like it pays much, and I'd think that you could pull off the tougher jobs easily enough."

"Nah, I'm good. See here? It says the employer is willing to pay for each package delivered, so if I can do a bunch quickly, then that means I can earn a lot more."

"Oh that's right," Olette agreed. "Not to mention that ever since you came here, you've explored every shortcut that's passable by humans."

"Not all humans, Olette," Pence corrected. "Not a lot of people can run all the way up the side of a two-storey building."

Roxas shrugged. "Nah, the texture of the wall has to be just right for me to do that, otherwise, I can only reach about one and a half." He glanced at Hayner. "Wat'cha got there, Hayner?"

Hayner was looking at an ad he had taken down from the bulletin board. A confident smirk was on his face, a sure sign that they weren't going to like what was on the ad. Then again, the people of Twilight Town were fairly sane so Olette doubted there was any job posted that was _too_ outrageous.

She cautiously took a step towards Hayner's side, wondering what kind of insane job he could have picked out. As soon as she caught sight of the ad though, her eyes widened in surprise, followed by a crooked smile she was trying to suppress, finally ending with her doubled over, trying her best to keep her giggles in.

Hayner narrowed his eyes at her. "What?"

Roxas and Pence, letting their curiosity get the better of themselves, also stepped towards Hayner to look at the ad in his hands.

"Wanted: Teen model for photo shooting. Inquire for more details at modeling agency in Twilight Town Mall," Pence read aloud.

Roxas and Pence took a moment to look at each other, then glanced at Hayner, right before throwing their heads back and letting out a chorus of unrestrained laughter.

"What? I think I'd be pretty awesome at this job! Can't you guys see that?"

The three managed to stop laughing long enough to take a good long look at Hayner, imagining him walking down the runway with that gait only models have, posing for a camera while gazing passionately at the camera. Needless to say, the thought only triggered louder laughs from them.

Hayner was clearly not appreciative of the kind of support they were giving. "I'll show you guys! By the end of this week, you'll see my face on ads everywhere!" He stormed off, leaving behind three teens who were trying their best not to fall over from laughing.

When their lungs were finally starting to hurt, Olette managed to ask, "What do you think? Do you think Hayner can get himself on a lot of ads?"

Roxas smirked. "At the very least, I'm sure he can catch the eye of the public media."

-x-

It was a weekday afternoon, and still early to boot, but Roxas was already walking out of the post office with a much healthier wallet, having completed his job. Things were looking great. The manager was dumbfounded that he had actually completed the entire route with more than enough time to spare, but checking each and every delivery form carefully, he knew he had to admit defeat and willingly handed over the amount he had bet. And to top it off, he actually put Roxas on assignment if ever there was a need for immediate deliveries, another boost in his pay.

Since he got off work early, he knew exactly where he wanted to go. Without wasting any time, he headed straight towrds Twilight Town's mall. With any luck, he might actually have a chance of seeing Hayner pose for a camera. The thought made him snicker.

Not long after he arrived at the mall, he could feel his cellphone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out and checking the screen, he read a text message from Pence saying he and Olette had just gotten to the mall. Though they hadn't exactly discussed meeting up to spy on Hayner's photoshoot, they all knew each other well enough to understand that such a thing was too good to pass up.

"Roxas!" Olette greeted, waving at him. "Been waiting long?"

"Just a bit, since I got off work early." He glanced around, suddenly not sure of what they were supposed to do. "So, do any of you have an idea of how we're supposed to spy on Hayner? Those photoshoots are usually closed to the public aren't they?"

A knowing grin appeared on Pence's face. "Not if you know the right people."

Without saying another word, Pence went and walked ahead of them. Roxas passed a confused glance toward Olette, who shrugged in return, but nonetheless, they followed their chubby companion. They ended up following Pence to the top floor. A couple of security guards were standing watch at the stairwell which Roxas supposed led to the roof. Before Roxas and Olette could even catch up to Pence, he was already being let through.

Pence waved them over from behind the guards. "C'mon guys, let's go."

As soon as they were climbing the stairs and out of earshot of the guards, Roxas turned to Pence, "What was that about? How come they just let you through?"

Pence gave the same smile, though the two noticed it was a bit more forced than earlier. "I told you, I just happened to have some connections."

They let it drop, only because they could clearly see it was making him uncomfortable. Besides, as long as they got to see Hayner, who cares what connections Pence used. They were in!

They made their way up the final stairwell, stopping at the door that led to the open rooftop. Roxas grasped the handle while casting a glance back to their friend Pence. He still wasn't sure how far his friend's connections would get them. Could they really just waltz into a photoshoot as if they were supposed to be there? Or would they have to sneak around and try not to attract attention? He was surprised when he gave a simple nod, meaning it was okay for them to just go in.

Still a little wary, but confident in his friend, Roxas pushed the door open. Even the gentle glow of the twilight sky was dazzling on an open rooftop. As soon as their eyes adjusted to the light, they could see that the whole rooftop had been prepared for the photoshoot. Booths were set up for make-up, clothes of every kind were hanging on racks, different lighting and photography equipment were arranged on tables.

"So this is what a photoshoot looks like," Olette mused.

One of the staff noticed them come in and approached them. "Hi, are you looking for someone here?"

Before Roxas could even start thinking of a response, Pence took charge and answered, "We're looking for Belle. We're acquaintances of hers."

"Oh, then you should find her over there at near the stage. She'll be finishing with some of the models soon." As soon as they heard that, the trio hurried over to the direction of the stage. If they were lucky, they just might be able to catch Hayner in action.

It seemed like they had arrived right in the middle of the photo shoot. The models were in the middle of the stage, following instructions from a redheaded photographer. It didn't seem Hayner was anywhere around.

"Belle!"

The redhead looked up from her camera hearing her name being called. Her face brightened up immediately upon seeing Pence waving at her. "Pence! They told me you were coming!" She pointed the camera she was holding at the models and took a picture, not even bothering to look in their direction, let alone look through the viewfinder. "That about wraps it up for you guys. Tell the next group that they're up."

Pence suppressed a sigh. "Is that any way for you to be taking pictures at your professional job?"

"I like to surprise myself," she answered with a mischievous smile. "I heard your friend is one of the models for today."

"Yeah, his name's Hayner. He's not done yet, is he?"

She thought a moment, putting a finger to her chin. "Since I'm guessing he's around your age, no. I think he might be the one they picked out for the next group." She glanced at Roxas and Olette. "These are your friends?"

"Oh yeah, let me introduce you. Belle, this is Roxas and Olette. Guys, this is Belle, professional photographer."

She gave a cheery salute. "Whether it's models, news, uncharted areas, or even the dirtiest of secrets, if you want it photographed, I'm your girl."

"Wow, Pence. How come you've never mentioned her?" Olette asked. "Actually, how did you even meet her?"

"Oh, it's no biggie really," Belle said. "You run into all sorts of people over at Ci-"

"B-Belle!" Pence interrupted, "Where's Layle? You usually get jobs together, right?"

A touch of irritation crossed her face. "Oh, _him_. He still isn't back from one of his jobs. Can't believe he just up and took one without telling me! It's why I took up this job. I can't go for the more exciting jobs without some help."

Roxas couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Based on what this person was saying, she's had quite a... _colorful_ background as a photographer. He wondered if it had anything to do with how she met Pence. Despite Pence's efforts, he had noticed him trying to divert the subject away from that topic. He was pretty sure Olette had noticed too judging by her expression. Still, it seemed like they were still going to let it slide for now.

"Oh, look, here he comes!"

Almost as if they were watching the whole thing on widescreen, Hayner approached the stage seemingly in slow motion. He was dressed in a dark long-sleeved buttoned shirt, the top three buttons open and cuffs undone, along with matching dark slacks. A loose red tie hung from his neck. There was a certain look in his eyes, like the calm right after the storm. He looked... well, quite different from the normal Hayner to say the least.

"W-Wow..." Olette breathed. Roxas and Pence raised an eyebrow at her, causing her face to flush a light pink. "I-I mean- Wow! Hayner! You look great!"

Hearing his friend's voice, the foreign aura around him dissipated. He turned, a look of surprise appearing on his face. "Olette? Roxas? Pence? What are you guys doing here? How did you even get in?" He suddenly smirked. "Oh, I get it. I guess you guys couldn't wait to see my awesomeness, huh?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Riiight... Hurry up, pretty boy. We came all this way to laugh at your awesomeness."

"I'll take that as my cue to take him away," Belle chirped. "C'mon, Hayner. Let's get started."

The three stood on the sidelines, watching the entire event. That weird aura of Hayner's was back, and he was totally absorbed in what he was doing, following Belle's instructions with precision and occasionally adding a little flair of his own. As strange as it was, he really did look... awesome.

Roxas gagged at the thought. This wasn't exactly what he came here for. "Well, this sucks. I can't even find one thing to laugh at."

"I know," Pence agreed. "Hate to admit it, but he does look pretty good out there. Don't you think so, Olette?"

"Yeah..."

Roxas and Pence turned away from Hayner's performance to turn to Olette. They had never seen that look in her eyes before. And...

"You're not drooling, are you?" Roxas asked.

"W-What? Of course not!" she said, though unconsciously wiping the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Okay, that's it for the single shots!" Belle called. "It's time for the couple shots, Rikku!"

"Couple shots?" Roxas and Pence asked.

A blonde girl, who they recognized as one of their schoolmates, bounded into view. Her hair had been pulled up into an elegant knot, and she was wearing a blood red cocktail dress, the skirt ruffled with black lace, and complete with heels which were probably listed as deadly weapons (seriously, one wrong step with those things could put a hole through a dance partner's foot). She went up to the stage and greeted Hayner with a bubbly smile, right before matching his intense aura.

And that's exactly the word to describe the current photoshoot: intense. Roxas and Pence couldn't help but feel a little hot under the collar as they watched Hayner and Rikku move through the different postures that Belle was instructing them to do. Hayner putting an arm around her waist, Rikku pulling roughly on Hayner's shirt and tie, Hayner putting his hand flat on Rikku's front, Rikku pressing herself onto Hayner, the two of them slowly bringing their faces together...

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWW!"

All activity on the mall's rooftop ceased as everyone turned to look at Roxas, whose face was turning red at an incredible rate. "Um... hehe, sorry. Bit my tounge."

Despite the incredulous looks thrown at him, activity slowly resumed on the rooftop. As soon as majority of the eyes were off of him, he hissed, "You didn't have to pinch me so hard, Olette."

Olette's face was burning red as well. "And you didn't have to shout so loud."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "It had to be something that would grab everyone's attention. Otherwise, it wouldn't be enough to make you happy, would it?"

If possible, Olette's face darkened a few more shades of red. He knew. He knew that she had wanted them to stop even before she had pinched him. And Roxas had purposely allowed himself to be embarrassed for her. "T-Thanks."

Roxas nodded. He looked back toward the photoshoot, where the earlier momentum had been broken and Belle was now having them tone it down a bit. "Just to make sure, do you even know why you wanted them to stop?"

Her face still burning bright red, Olette shook her head. "I-I'm not really sure... I was watching them, and all of a sudden... I didn't want them to..."

Roxas sighed. "It's a step somewhere at least. And by the way, I don't think Belle would have really made them kiss."

"I-I knew that!"

-x-

It didn't take much long after that for Belle to finish the remainder of the photoshoot. After only a few poses, she let her camera hang from the strap around her neck and called out to Hayner and Rikku, "And were done! Nice job guys!"

Hayner let out a big breath. He was feeling pretty drained. Apparently, modeling was a lot tougher than it looked. Next to him, Rikku smiled. "Not bad for your first time."

He smiled cockily. "What do you mean not bad? I was great!"

Rikku just smirked. "Hm... maybe. Though you could work on loosening up more. Don't you think so too, Belle?" she asked the photographer.

She put a finger to her chin in thought. "She has a point. It took a while before I got a shot I liked on the particularly intimate shots. You guys are the last models, so would you like to practice there for a little longer?"

Hayner shrugged. "I guess I don't mind. But... we're going to have to do those poses again?" he asked, his cheeks coloring a little. As natural as he may have seemed to Roxas and the others, he actually felt a little uncomfortable doing those poses.

"That's kinda the point," she pointed out playfully. "Okay, so were going to..." She glanced to the side, trailing off slightly. A mischievous smile appeared on her face. "On second thought, I won't be able to guide you much if I'm your partner. Why don't we have your friend partner up with you?"

"Friend?" Hayner glanced at the audience, remembering who was watching. "Y-You mean, Olette?"

"No, I meant one of your guy friends," she said, rolling her eyes. "Of course I mean Olette. C'mon, get over here," she called at her, waving her over.

Olette shifted forward and backward, unsure of what to do. "A-Are you really sure it's okay? I mean, this is an official photoshoot after all, and technically, we're not really even supposed to be here..."

Belle waved it off. "It's fine if I say it's fine, don't worry. The photographer is queen at these photoshoots."

"B-But... I don't know..."

Roxas and Pence wordlessly positioned themselves behind her and gave her a gentle shove forward, pushing her toward Rikku. And before she could protest anymore, Rikku had already latched onto her wrist and was pulling her up the stage, practically throwing her into Hayner's arms.

"Nice that you're so into it already," Rikku teased, looking at how Olette was leaning into Hayner. Olette, realizing how close they were, flushed a deep red and quickly pushed herself off of him. "Hey, hey! C'mon!" Rikku complained. "We don't exactly have all day here. Just put up with it and practice."

Hayner stood there, undecided. He wondered if he should just go for it and do what he was told. After all, it wasn't everyday that he would actually get a legitimate reason to get all up close and intimate with Olette. Then again, if she was that much against it...

He looked toward her, seeing her shift uncomfortably, glancing every now and then at him. She opened her mouth, her face darkening a few more shades. "I-I'll only do this since it's your job okay? I mean, considering how you hated the idea of working at the start, and then finding a decent job..." she rambled on.

A triumphant smirk appeared on Hayner's face. Looks like she wasn't so much against it after all.

-x-

"Why does this always happen?"

The gang was already leaving the mall, the photo shoot and the extra practice session having ended. Roxas glanced at his best friend. "Why does what always happen?"

Hayner rolled his eyes and pointed to the reddening hand-shaped mark on his cheek. "I mean, why am I always the one who ends up hurt whenever something happens?"

"Maybe because you deserve it?" Pence ventured.

"Of course he deserves it," Olette huffed from the far side of the group. Ever since the practice had ended, she had made Roxas and Pence stand as a barrier between them.

"I was following instructions!" Hayner complained.

"No, you were going overboard!" Olette retaliated. Roxas and Pence automatically took a step back as Olette closed the distance between them, pointing an accusing finger into his chest. Hayner, despite himself, was actually amused at her reaction. "All she said was for us to get closer, make it look more intimate."

"And? That's what I did," Hayner answered, leaning toward her with a cocky smirk on his face.

Olette faltered slightly at the proximity. "D-Don't you dare unless you want a matching mark on the other cheek!"

He raised his hands and retreated, though the smirk was still there on his face. "C'mon, Olette, you make it sound like I violated you or something. All I did was pick you up bridal style and put my face close enough to yours for it to look like we were about to kiss. What happened after that is your fault."

"What? Why is it my fault? I-It's not like I thrashed around violently at being picked up."

"You've been visiting that new cake shop almost everyday, right?" At this point, Roxas and Pence took a few more steps away from the two. Though they knew that Hayner was usually smart enough not to say it, there have been times when it had slipped out. And they didn't want to be anywhere near him when he did let it slip.

"Well, yeah... so?"

"That's the reason we both fell," Hayner said plainly. "I couldn't carry that extra weight you put on."

SMACK!

Olette left in a huff, leaving Hayner spread-eagled on the sidewalk. Pence watched her go as Roxas bent down to examine his friend's condition. _At least he's symmetrical now_, he thought, noting the two matching hand-shaped marks on both his cheeks.

Hayner groaned. "Okay, that one, I deserved."

Pence smiled wryly. He turned his attention back to Olette and called out. "Hey Olette! Does this mean you don't want the pictures I took of the two of you together?"

Roxas and Pence couldn't help but grin as they saw her stop for a split-second before continuing on her way. She definitely wanted a copy. Maybe the day when she'd admit to wanting them wasn't far off.

* * *

A/N: Yeah... hi. Been a while since the last chapter, huh? And you probably don't need to hear about the thousand and one excuses I have. But to be honest, I really am starting to take writing more seriously, though I'm focusing more on originals instead of fanfics. A friend of mine is a published author, and he just published another one a few months ago. Made me feel like I should also do something. Someday maybe...

Anyway, long chapter. It gets longer every time. I've read back on the story a few times and realized I made Hayner too much of a wimp when it comes to his feelings with Olette, so I made him a bit more aggressive this time around. I really like the result, it seems so much more like them. And by the way, I hate writing about clothes. Even had to look stuff up in the catalog for the clothes Hayner and Rikku wore. Why do there have to be so many different names for clothes? Anyway, review plz!


	13. Twilight Ranger

**Twilight Ranger  
**

Hayner let out a big yawn, drawing it out as long as he could and not even bothering to suppress it. He smirked at the biology teacher, who was clearly annoyed at his blatant advertisement of disinterest. If he had thought moving him to the front row would make him more conscious of his behavior, then he was sorely mistaken.

"Maybe you'd like to make a trip to the restroom, Hayner," the teacher said. "Splash some face on your water. You must have been up very late studying last night," he sneered.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly, sir," his voice dripping with fake enthusiasm. "I couldn't bear to miss even a second of your interesting lecture about," he glanced at the board for the first time since entering the room, "cell mitosis."

A subdued chorus of laughter could be heard across the room. The teacher sighed. "Detention, Hayner."

"What! How come?"

"Because apparently, you can't even distinguish between my lecture on the circulatory system," he said pointing to the left side of the board, "and the previous class' lecture on cell mitosis," he continued, gesturing to the other side of the board.

"Oh... right. So..."

"Detention."

"Right, gotcha..."

The teacher turned back to the board. Hayner sighed. That sucked pretty bad. Ever since his job ended a week ago, he had been bored out of his mind. Sure, the modeling agency still had his number but since he didn't have his own agent, until a photoshoot comes up that the agency thinks he's suited for, he was practically jobless at the moment. And to add detention to that; it was pretty cruel of fate to murder him with boredom.

He glanced to the back, not even trying to be subtle, and noticed Roxas slumped over in his seat. Despite normally being as lazy as him, Roxas was putting quite a bit of effort into his job as a deliveryman. He must really want more spending money, and Hayner couldn't help but think it had something to do with Naminé. Heck, whenever Roxas started acting weird, it was a safe bet that it had something to do with her. He and the others should probably grill him on that sometime soon.

Turning his head the other way, Hayner took a look over at Olette's seat in the corner of the room. It seemed she was concentrating more than usual. She had her eyes closed and was sitting up straight the way she did whenever she wanted to completely absorb something. Then again, she also did that whenever she was trying to control her temper. Hayner did a quick check to see if there was anything he had done to earn another day of shopping. But in the middle of his internal debate on whether switching the sugar with the salt during her last cooking attempt would be enough to invoke her anger, he noticed her head dipping, slowly lowering until her forehead hit the desk with a soft 'thud'.

Now this was something you didn't see very often. In fact, Hayner couldn't think of a single instance where he had caught Olette sleeping in the middle of class. This was practically history in the making! He pulled out his cellphone, switching to the camera function and took aim. If he could get a picture of this, maybe he could weasel himself out of her nagging to pay more attention in class.

Out of nowhere, a wooden meter stick swung down and smacked him on the head. "Tomorrow," the teacher said.

Hayner sighed, rubbing the sore spot. "Yeah, detention, I got it..."

-x-

Pence yawned as he left his last class. He had been working nearly all night last night, and quite late the previous days so the fatigue was starting to get to him. Thankfully, he had the day off so at least for today he could just go straight home and sleep straight until dinner.

He stood by the school gate, waiting for the others. Not two minutes later, Roxas ran past him saying that he would be going ahead. Pence didn't even know why he bothered to hurry. Given how athletic he was and his knowledge of the town's shortcuts, he'd probably be the first to clock in and the first to clock out. About five minutes later, he could see the figure of Olette exiting the main entrance.

"Hi Olette," he greeted. "Hayner got detention?"

"Mnn," she said, nodding slowly. She swayed unsteadily for a moment before straightening herself. "...Roxas?"

"He left already." Pence looked her over carefully. "Are you okay? You don't look too good."

She nodded again. "M'fine... work..." She let out a tired sigh. "...be going now... see you t'morrow."

Pence watched her trudge away unsteadily. "She definitely doesn't look fine," he mumbled to himself.

He started walking towards his house, a look of concentration on his face. Hayner was in detention, Roxas was running across town, Olette was working at the daycare center, and he was heading home to get back his share of sleep. Although he never really noticed it, he supposed there were times when all of them were off doing their own thing. This would normally mean that the next time they would all meet was tomorrow morning, right before class.

The keyword there was normally. Pence stopped for a moment and sighed. He wondered if he would be able to get his nap later that afternoon...

-x-

"Give it back!"

"No, it's mine!"

"Is not! I got it first!"

"I just put it down for a second!"

Olette rushed over to the fighting children, looking more frazzled than ever. "Kids! No arguing," she said, pleading more than ordering. "What's going on?"

"He took the toy car I was playing with!" the four year old girl complained.

"No, I didn't!" the boy complained. "I found it near the toy box so I took it!"

"I wasn't done playing with it!"

"You've had your turn!"

Olette tried to put a little space between the kids. "Come on, no need to fight over it. She said she was still playing with it, so won't you give it back?"

"I said no!"

She winced at the little boy's volume. She sighed and turned to the girl instead. "Why don't we look for another toy for you to play with?"

"B-But I wanted to play with that car..."

Olette let out another heavy sigh. This job wasn't turning out like what she had thought. True, she had a lot of experience taking care of her cousins, but the daycare center was a whole different matter. There were quite a few working moms in Twilight Town, which meant that they had to leave their too-young-to-be-left-alone children someplace safe. Children from as young as two-year olds to as old as seven-year olds were left at that daycare. And since the daycare was located right in the middle of Market Street, there was definitely no shortage of kids to be taken care of.

Which led to her current problem. She wasn't sure up to what authority she had with these kids. Her employer had told her that she should never do anything that would get any overprotective parents into a frenzy. Add to that the sheer number of kids that had to be looked after, it was probably already shaving a few years off of her youth.

Today was especially busy. And of course, it was just her luck that both her co-workers called in sick. Fortunately, she had two unofficial helpers. A messy-haired boy tapped the younger one on the shoulder and held out a small video game console. "I'm done with it."

The toy car completely forgotten, the four-year old boy snatched the game and immersed himself in it. A girl with braided hair picked up the toy car and handed it to the younger girl. Pleased with how things turned out, the girl went to join her friends, the toy car in her hands.

Olette smiled in relief. "Thanks Denzel, Marlene."

The two smiled back at her. Though Denzel and Marlene were already old enough to be out on their own, they often came to the daycare center to play and help out.

"Are you okay, Olette?" Marlene asked. "You look really tired."

Olette smiled at the girl's concern. "I'm fine. I just need to rest a lot when I get home."

Loud shouts suddenly grabbed her attention. She hurried outside to the backyard to look for the source of the commotion, hoping that at least one of these problems would be easily solved. And as soon as she saw the long white coat, she knew that things were going to be harder than ever.

Seifer was standing right outside the fence, holding a ball that looked like it belonged to one of the children. Kids were crowding around the fence, yelling for him to throw it back to them.

Olette quickly moved to their side, changing her expression to a stern one which would hopefully make Seifer more cooperative. "Seifer, please give the ball back to the kids."

He took his time examining the ball, looking at the kids and then turning to Olette. He let out a derisive snort at her expression. "Relax, I don't pick on kids," he said, sneering. "Not the ones that don't fight back anyway."

He tossed the ball back to the kids who wasted no time in going back to their game. Seeing that they no longer needed anything from him, Seifer turned and began walking away. Olette let out a sigh of relief. That had gone much smoother than she had anticipated.

WHAP!

Olette stared horrified at the scene, as she watched Seifer get hit in the head by the very same ball he had just tossed back. It had even hit him hard enough that he was knocked off balance by a step.

The kids once again crowded around the fence and started yelling for their ball again, completely undeterred by Seifer's aura. He sighed once, bent down to pick up the ball and walked back over to the fence, surveying the kids' faces.

"S-Sorry, I'll tell them to be more careful," Olette said.

He glanced at her for a moment. "No need; I'll do it." And without further warning, he pitched the ball straight into face of one child.

It was a chain reaction coupled with a downward spiral into mayhem. The child was knocked down onto his rear with simply a stunned expression on his face. Then, slowly but surely, his face contorted and he started wailing loudly. Another boy went for the ball, grabbed it, and threw it as hard as he could in the direction of Seifer's face. The teen didn't even flinch. He simply caught it in one hand and threw it back, giving the boy the same treatment as the first. Not even a minute later, most boys were going for whatever ball they could find and were launching it toward Seifer. And he in kind, returned every single one of the balls to their respective throwers, each one hitting its mark.

The yard was filled with shouts, shrieks, and cries. Olette had tried stopping Seifer at first but stopped not long after, knowing that he wouldn't listen to her. Then she tried getting the boys to stop, but they were too single minded in their attempts to get back at Seifer. Seeing how these didn't work, Olette then tried to pacify the crying children, taking each up one by one and setting them by the side next to the daycare. But even that didn't work because as soon as their crying had subsided, they immediately went back to join the fray. Even worse, some of the girls who were watching everything were so scared that they too started crying, which grabbed the attention of even those indoors, getting even more boys to start fighting and even more girls to start crying.

Olette was stuck. She had absolutely no idea of what she was supposed to do in this kind of situation. She even had half a mind to just give in and join the kids in crying. But she had to something... anything!

"Stop right there!"

Everyone fell silent as they turned to look at the newcomer. The twilight was shining bright from behind them, but Olette could make out Marlene's silhouette. There was no mistaking the other person, his tight outfit, the fluttering neckerchief, and the outline they could see of the head.

"It's Twilight Ranger Red!" the children yelled in unison, absolutely ecstatic at seeing their favorite television character in person.

The masked hero ran toward them with Marlene, coming between the children and Seifer. He shot a fist into the air, pulling off another of his famous poses which made the kids go wild. He pointed an accusing finger to Seifer. "You scoundrel! How dare you bully these children and make trouble for the workers here!"

Seifer looked at him with distaste. "I don't know who you think you are, but I'm the head of the Disciplinary Committee. And I'm just teaching these kids to be accept the consequences of their actions. So buzz off!"

The masked hero pulled off a different pose. "I am Twilight Ranger Red, ally of justice and protector of peace! And I will not 'buzz off'! Not until you have left this woman and her kids in peace!"

Olette bristled a little at being referred to as 'this woman' but decided to let it slide. These kiddy shows really stereotyped genders didn't they? She didn't even watch the show and she was pretty sure that there would be a Twilight Ranger Pink who acted all cute and girly. She hoped that the kids weren't picking up on that.

Seifer cracked his knuckles. "Fine, it looks like you're in need of disciplinary action as well."

The hero raised his hand to the sky. "Marlene! My weapon!"

The young girl immediately responded by tossing a red Struggle club toward him, quickly followed by a blue one. He spun around, catching the clubs perfectly in each hand. He tossed the blue one to Seifer, who caught it with ease.

Twilight Ranger Red raised his club to Seifer. "Prepare yourself!"

He crouched low and sprang forward, holding his weapon slightly above his head. Seifer readjusted his position slightly and held his ground. He stretched out his Struggle club forward and-

WHAM!

-watched Twilight Ranger Red run straight into it, knocking him onto his butt.

An awkward silence followed, as the children watched dumbstruck at their hero who had been knocked down so easily. Seifer raised an eyebrow but nonetheless stayed silent.

Olette cleared her throat. "Er... sorry if I'm wrong, but is that you under that mask Ha-"

"N-No!" The masked hero quickly scrambled to his feet. "Who is this Hayner of which you speak? I am Twilight Ranger Red, ally of justice and protector of peace!"

"But... I didn't even say a name yet."

Twilight Ranger Red averted his attention back to Seifer. "A-Anyway, I... just slipped up is all! This is when the true battle begins!"

He sprang forward once more, swinging the Struggle club. His credibility having been slightly restored by his last line, the kids began cheering wildly once more. At first, it seemed like a pretty even match, but after a few moments, Seifer started landing more blows, and harder ones too.

Seifer began pressing his advantage. He swung back and hit Twilight Ranger Red with a powerful backhand swing, successfully knocking him down a second time.

The masked hero slowly picked himself up from the ground. "Ungh... dammit, looks like it won't cut it, huh?"

"Hayner! Language!"

"Oh, right, sorry Ole... I mean- I told you! I know not this Hayner! I am Twilight Ranger Red!" He turned once more to his opponent. "Y-You fiend! How dare you make use of my weakness! You knew that I am only at my strongest when the sky is filled with twilight!"

Right on cue, the evening bell rang from the clocktower meaning that in a few minutes, the sky would be dark. Olette observed the children, who seemed to be accepting the hero's excuse for not beating Seifer with his special moves.

"So? Doesn't change the fact that I'm going to beat you down," Seifer declared, advancing a few steps.

A dark figure suddenly appeared behind Seifer. Two black and white blurs struck him in the side as the newcomer spun around him and came between him and Twilight Ranger Red.

Olette stared at the new character. She hadn't seen this one before, and guessing from the expression on the children's faces, they didn't recognize him either. A dark cloaked figure was standing before them, the hood raised and covering his face. A silver chain hung low around the neck and from the sides of the hood. A black Struggle club was in his right hand, and a white in the other.

"It's Ranger Dark Knight!"

All heads turned at the sudden announcement. Olette's eyes widened with surprise. "Pence?"

Pence emerged from one of the back alleys, along with Denzel. He continued, "When the strength of the Twilight Rangers fail in the fading of twilight, their ally emerges, the watcher from the darkness, Ranger Dark Knight!"

"But... where's his mask?" one child asked.

"Ranger Dark Knight doesn't need a mask because the darkness covers his face," Pence explained.

A collective 'oooh' emerged from the young audience. Olette wasn't sure how she was supposed to react. Things were getting weirder by the second.

"Begone," Ranger Dark Knight said. "Lest you be consumed by the darkness of the night."

Seifer only grinned. "Not a chance. Things are just getting interesting." Olette begged to differ. Things had passed interesting ages ago.

Ranger Dark Knight sprang forward, catching Seifer by surprise. He dodged Seifer's initial downward strike and retaliated with five consecutive blows of black and white to side, shoulder, and head before retreating backward.

"I ask you once again: begone," he said. "You are outnumbered, and even though Twilight Ranger Red is weak-"

"Hey!"

"-he can still fight."

"You think that's gonna make me back off?" Seifer shouted. "Bring it! I can take both of you on!"

Ranger Dark Knight sighed. He looked back to the daycare center. "They are coming."

Olette tilted her head in confusion. "Coming? Who is?"

"He's talking about the kids' parents," Pence answered. "Don't they normally pick up their kids right after the evening bell?"

Seifer swore under his breath. He didn't like walking away from a fight, but getting involved with adults was something he hated. He threw down the Struggle club he was holding and turned around. "We'll settle this some other time."

As Olette watched him walk away, she let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over.

"Victory!" Pence suddenly cheered, throwing his hands up in the air. The kids immediately followed suit, cheering at the top of their voices, jumping up and down. Pence leaned in toward Olette, "This is probably the time you take the kids in while I take the other two away."

Olette nodded and immediate arranged the kids into a makeshift victory parade that led back to the daycare. And a peak back outside showed her showed her one last swish of a dark cloak as it disappeared into one of the alleys.

-x-

"So do you mind telling me what possessed you and Roxas to put on costumes and save the day?" Olette asked, first thing in the morning. They had just met up at the Sandlot and were already walking toward school, where Roxas would be waiting.

Pence looked to Hayner, who looked back to Olette. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Olette rolled her eyes. "You don't seriously believe I didn't recognize you, do you? As if Pence being commentator for that episode wasn't enough, I am quite capable of recognizing how you and Roxas fight."

Pence shrugged. "Told you she would have figured it out."

Hayner brushed it off. "Still don't know what you're talking about. I'm just mild-mannered Hayner going to school in the morning, completely unaware of the actions of any awesome hero the previous night."

"Okay, now you're just mocking me. And what part of you is mild-mannered?" She turned to Pence and looked at him expectantly.

"Okay, okay. Yeah, Hayner was the one in the Twilight Ranger Red costume-"

"Pence! You just gave away my secret identity!"

Pence spared Hayner a look before moving on. "-and Roxas was in the black cloak."

"So why the costumes?" she asked, as they entered the school gates.

"It was my idea," a voice answered. Roxas was seated on one of the nearby benches, waiting for them to arrive.

"Good morning, Roxas," Olette greeted. "Naminé is with the student council again?"

The blonde nodded. "I don't know why she lets herself stay as an errand girl. She could handle the president's job easy." He stood up to join them. "So you already know?" he asked Olette.

"Only up to the part that it really was you and Hayner in costume. Why put on a costume at all?"

"It was for the kids," Pence answered. "I was actually there the whole time, since I was worried that you might pass out on the streets, considering the way you looked. As soon as Seifer showed up, I asked Denzel and Marlene to look for Roxas, since he's probably the only guy who could make Seifer back off. They found Roxas, who was still in the middle of his delivery runs and Hayner, who ditched detention."

"Pence!"

"You ditched detention!"

"Because I was worried about you!" Hayner countered immediately. "And I didn't ditch it! I showed up! I just... left early." He took a moment to observe the others' expressions. They weren't really buying it. "Anyway, I was about to jump in when Roxas stopped me. Said it wouldn't be a good idea to start a plain fist fight in front of the kids. Plus, the kids were already out of control as it was."

"I happened to be delivering costumes at the time," Roxas explained, "so I made Hayner put one on and fight Seifer. It would help bring the kids under control and make Seifer back off at the same time."

"Except Hayner didn't beat him," Olette stated blandly.

"It was an off day for me!"

"Yeah, because of the fading twilight," Pence said, chuckling. "That was a nice save by the way. And it helped me invent a character for Roxas' costume."

"Wait, so the part of Ranger Dark Knight was all made up?" she asked.

"Yup. Hayner was losing so Roxas put on another costume so he could help out. I created his character setting and Roxas acted it out."

"That was completely embarrassing by the way," Roxas commented, a slight pink tinging his ears. "Can't believe those lines I said."

"Really? I think it was kinda fun," Hayner said. "I wonder if there's a job offer for it."

Olette smiled. She reached out and grabbed her boys around their necks, bringing them into a tight hug.

"Thanks you guys. You really saved me back there."

Her three boys smiled along with her.

"You owe me some sleep."

"And you owe me some of my dignity."

"And if you can get me out of detention later, I'll call it even."

Olette shook her head, that smile still on her face. "How about the next time I go shopping, I ask some of my girlfriends instead of you guys?"

"Deal."

* * *

A/N: Yeah, long time no update again. I've been working on something I _might _consider publishing if I could, but yeah, it's still kind of a dream and I wanted a break and came back to this.

The story turned out quite different from how I first imagined it. The original went something like Roxas showing up and controlling the situation, demonstrating his motherly powers and ending with every kid calling him 'mom'. But plot holes, realistic reactions and etc changed that, so I decided to just go crazy and this is what came out. I must have played too much of that "Absolute Victory Unlosing Ranger vs. Demon General Darkdeath Evilman". I kinda like the randomness though. Please review!


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